Intertwined
by IPreferVerticallyChallenged
Summary: Bella never came to Forks. The Cullens get into trouble with Victoria even without Bella's help and The vampires and the werewolves are forced to team up. New and strange ties are formed as the two groups learn to get along. SLASH. Jake/Edward.
1. Prologue

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Prologue

Eternity. It is a concept that no human can fully understand.

One human, an author named Lois Duncan has it pretty close. In one of her books, she wrote, "If there was a mountain a mile high made of granite and once every thousand years a great immortal bird brushed its feathers against the top of the mountain, by the time the bird eroded the mountain away, not even a fraction of a second would have passed in the eyes of eternity."

Eternity is forever, and living for an eternity...

If you ask many humans, most would jump at the chance of immortality; to never grow old, never have to face death. But they wouldn't understand what they would be asking for.

Most would be miserable. They'd never age and everyone around them would die and they'd just have to watch. Life is great and life is good, but eventually, you start to see all of the bad things instead of the good things that life has in store.

It is true that some could remain happy and keep an optimistic attitude. My family for example. Jasper and Alice are happy together, as are Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and Rosalie.

I suppose the trick to leading a happy never-ending life is having something to live for. My family found it in their mates.

I long for what they have. Not for a mate to hold in my arms, for I don't believe that there's someone out there for me, but just something to live for.

Something.

Anything.


	2. Chapter One

**I do not own Twilight**

Chapter One

**EDWARD'S POV**

"Edward! Where have you been?!" Alice asks running up to my car door

"I was at the mall getting some new CD's," I say, wondering why she's so worked up. Her thoughts are slightly jumbled and I can't make much sense of them.

"We've been trying to get a hold of you but you weren't answering you're phone," Alice says, "We've got a visitor here asking for help and Carlisle says we couldn't discuss it until you showed up."

"I'm still kind of confused," I admit getting up and following her as she leads me in the direction of the house.

"Don't worry, Carlisle will explain it better inside."

When we get inside, the whole family is already in the living room waiting. There is also a woman with flame red hair and burgundy eyes.

"Can someone explain to me what's going on?" I ask.

"Yes," Carlisle says, "This is Victoria and she's come to us for help. She was betrayed by her two coven members and they are after her. She would like to stay here until her attackers have left the area and we were all trying to decide if we should protect her or not."

"Well why did the other coven members attack her?" I ask, "It's kind of hard to judge not knowing that."

"The leader, James, wished to be my mate, but I didn't want him and so he tried to destroy me. Laurent is the other member of my old coven," Victoria says in a high girlish voice, "And he and James are such close friends that his is helping James try to destroy me."

Jasper: _We can't help her, it's too dangerous. I'm not worried about fighting off her pursuers, but I'm worried about the humans of Forks._

Esme:_ I feel bad for the poor girl. We should look after her. Just for a week or so 'til she's on her feet again._

Emmett: _Oooh. If we protect her, I might get to fight the tracker and the other male._

Alice:_ I've got a bad feeling about her. I don't think we should protect her._

Rosalie:_ I don't see why we should have to protect her. She's not_ our_ problem._

Carlisle: _Poor innocent girl. I want to protect her._

It's a tie. Three of them say yes and three of them say no. Which makes me the tie breaker.

_What should I decide?_ I wonder.

I don't know, so I look inside Victoria's mind.

I get flashes; images. Her kissing a tall brown-haired vampire she calls James. Her whispering she loves him into his ear. Her kissing another vampire. Laurent.

_She was two timing them, _I realize. _And now that they're trying to get even she's trying to hide behind our family._

"So," Carlisle says, "It's time to vote. I say we protect her. Alice what do you think? Protect or not?"

"Not," Alice says.

"Jasper?" Carlisle asks.

"Not," he answers.

"Esme?"

"Yes of course," she says.

"Emmett?"

"Yeah," he says enthusiastically.

"Edward?" Carlisle says, "You're the tie breaker."

"No," I answer.

"Y-you won't protect me from-" Victoria gasps, "Please, please kind sir, change your mind. Those two men will stop at nothing to destroy me!"

"For good reason!" I say, "Normally I'm adverse to cursing, but you're a lying two-timing bitch and I see exactly why they want to kill you."

"Edward!" Esme scolds, "Watch your language. That's no way to talk to a guest."

"But Esme," I whine, "She was cheating on James with Laurent and she lied to us about it."

"Oh," Esme says, looking taken aback, "Well in that case...Victoria, get out of this house right now."

"Fine, but you'll be sorry," Victoria growls before fleeing the house.

"Should I go take care of her?" Emmett asks menacingly.

"No, she's not worth it," Carlisle says.

"Fine," Emmett pouts.

* * *

**For me, this is a really long chapter. Like I said in the Prologue, usually the first couple of chapters I write in a new story are short, but I suppose I'm trying to get the beginning done and out of the way.**

**In the first three or four chapters I'll have to be setting up the story. There probably won't be any Jake/Edward until then. Just letting you know.**

**REVIEW! (It makes me happy)**


	3. Chapter Two

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Two

**EDWARD'S POV**

A month passed before Victoria came back.

We really weren't expecting her come back at all. Even though she said "You'll be sorry" none of us thought she'd do anything. There are seven of us and she's just one vampire who's already being chased by two other vampires.

But apparently she found _someone _to help her, seeing as how she's not afraid of James and Laurent anymore.

Today Alice and Jasper were out hunting when they came across Victoria and an unfamiliar person's scents. They just came back a few seconds ago asking Carlisle what to do.

"What do you mean what do we do?" Emmett asks before Carlisle can say anything, "We go destroy them! Victoria threatened us and now she's back to try and attack us. We've got to take the offense and attack before they try and attack us."

"Think about it Emmett," Carlisle says, with a sigh, "She might not even be after us. James and Laurent are somewhere in this area and she might be trying to locate them. She wouldn't try to go up against a coven of seven with only herself and one other vampire."

"Unless the other vampire was really powerful," Jasper says.

"Well let's not be hasty over 'What if's'," Carlisle says, "It'd be different if we had some solid evidence that she was going to attack us, but as it is, we really shouldn't attempt to destroy her."

"But Carlisle-" Emmett whines.

"Alice?" I ask interrupting Emmett, "Can you try and see what Victoria is doing right now?"

"I'll try," Alice says uncertainly before moving to a chair and closing her eyes.

_Why didn't I think of that?_ Carlisle wonders.

"Probably because you were busy trying to convince Emmett to calm down. You probably would've thought of it yourself in a few minutes," I assure him.

Alice's eyes begin to flutter as she falls into a vision.

_Victoria is in a city. Probably Olympia or Tacoma._

_She is accompanied by a male vampire who looks about twenty._

_They walk together through a dark alley, and at the end are four humans ranging from early twenties to mid-thirties._

_The two vampires duck behind a dumpster to avoid being seen._

_"Perfect," Victoria whispers under her breath._

_"So, how do we actually do this?" The male vampire asks quietly._

_"Oh, it's really easy, Kyle" she says, flashing a smile at him, "All you've got to do is reach out and bite their necks, you can't kill them, because then they won't change. Don't worry about not being able to stop yourself from killing them; I'll pull you off if it looks like you can't stop on your own."_

_"I'm not sure if we should be doing this," the male vampire, Kyle, says._

_"But Kyle," Victoria says, in a high child-like voice, "It's the only way to get even with those_ horrible_ people who wouldn't protect me from my old coven."_

_"Yeah, but still-" Kyle begins._

_"Please?" Victoria whispers in his ear, "For me?"_

_"A-alright," Kyle relents._

_"Oh thank you!" Victoria cries, wrapping her arms around Kyle's neck and kissing his cheek._

_"What was that?" one of the humans from the alley asks._

_"I don't know," another one answers, "Go find out."_

_"Ready?" Victoria asks, crouching down and getting ready to pounce._

_"Yes," Kyle says._

_And then the screaming begins._

Alice's vision ends and she sits bolt upright. "Uh oh," she says.


	4. Chapter Three

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Three

**EDWARD'S POV**

"That settles it," Emmett says after Alice explains her vision, "Now we _have_ to go after her."

"I don't think that's going to work so well," I say.

"How come?" Emmett asks.

"Well, we don't know where she is for one. She has to be hiding somewhere where the humans won't hear four screaming humans transforming into vampires. And now there will be a total of six of them," Jasper answers for me.

"At _least_ six," I add, "She might have already bitten some or she might be planning on making more."

"Well then what do we do?" Emmett asks.

No one says anything for a moment.

"Well," Carlisle says eventually, "We could call the Alaskan coven."

"Don't bother," Alice says, "They're not there. They won't be back until a month or two from now."

"T-then what_ do_ we do?" Emmett asks.

"Don't worry," Carlisle says, "Everything will be alright. We'll think of something eventually." His voice sounds very confident, but his thoughts are anything but.

Everyone seems to be uneasy as they leave the living room and go about their business.

Jasper goes to get a book, but as he tries to read it, he keeps shifting uncomfortably and he never seems to turn the page.

Alice says she's going to her room to lie down, but she keeps pacing around wondering what we're going to do.

Emmett and Rosalie go up to their room and just talk, something they're usually too busy to do when they're alone except for in between kisses.

Esme begins cleaning things that really do not need to be cleaned, doing it at human speed so it takes up more time.

Carlisle sits down beside me on the couch and turns on the news, but he doesn't really pay attention to it; he's to consumed by his thoughts.

_No use worrying about something that can't be changed. One of us will think of something eventually; we always do**,**_ I think, turning my attention to the news.

"...And luckily no one was injured." The anchorman says. "In other news, there has been no progress in the hunt for the large wolves that have been spotted around Forks and La Push. Any sightings should be reported to..."

_The werewolves!_ _Most of them would _love _a good fight,_ I realize._ They could help us out with Victoria and her new-borns._ I look at the idea from all angles, trying to spot any flaws._ The worst thing that could happen is they say no._

"I've got an idea," I say. Instantly everyone that left is back in the living room again.

"What?" Carlisle asks.

"The werewolves," I say simply.

"No," Emmett says, "That would never work. What reason could the wolves have for helping us?"

"They don't have any reason to help us," I say, "But they have plenty of reasons why they shouldn't let newborns run around the area. New-borns got to eat. A lot.

"It might work," Carlisle says slowly, "It's definitely worth a try."

"Humph," Emmett says, "Well let's go and get it over with."

"Emmett, it's the middle of the night," Esme says, "Don't you think this better wait 'til morning?"

"I suppose," he says.

"Then it's settled," Carlisle says, "First thing in the morning."


	5. Chapter Four

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Four

**EMMETT'S POV**

_Will this really work?_ I wonder pacing back and forth on the border, my family sitting around me, all looking as nervous as I felt. I don't really feel nervous for _myself_. I can take any of those wolves any day of the week, but my Rose? I really, really don't want her to get hurt.

"It will work," Edward says, "Everything is going to be fine."

_Get out of my head_. I scold, sending him a mental picture of Rosalie from one of our more...intimate moments.

He flinches and shakes his head back and forth. It makes it really hard for me to not laugh at him.

"Do you _see_ anything yet, Alice?" Carlisle asks.

"No," Alice says, "I'm not sure why, but our future just kind of disappears a few minutes from now."

"Isn't that really bad?" I ask. Not having a future sure _sounds_ really bad.

"I don't think so," Alice says, frowning, "It's not like I see us being attacked or a bomb going off or something. It's just... nothing."

Which makes me even _more_ nervous for my Rosalie. I pace back and forth twice as much as before.

"Emmett, sit down," Rosalie scolds, "You're making me dizzy."

"Okay," I mutter, sitting beside her.

* * *

**JAKE'S POV**

I run after Sam as quickly as I can, the pack following close behind.

_Come on! Hurry up!_ Sam shouts at our minds. _I picked up the trail right up here._

After a moment I can smell it too. Then the rest of the pack.

_Is it just me, or is it getting stronger?_ I ask.

_It's definitely getting stronger, _Embry answers.

Sam suddenly stops, and all the rest of us skid to a halt.

_What's going on?_ I ask.

He points with his nose to a group of vampires sitting along the border._ It's the Cullens._ He says._ Stay in wolf form, you've got to back me up._

He changes back to human form and quickly puts his close on.

I shake my head at him. _No, no. This is a bad idea._ I think at him, but of course he can't hear me in human form.

"What do you want," I hear him ask the vampires.

"My name is Carlisle," one of the blood-suckers says, "And we come by because...there are going to be many, many vampires coming to this area. They are our enemies and we really need help."

"And you expected us to help you?" Sam asks, his tone mocking, "Why on earth would we do that?"

"Because," a different one answers, "We can't stop them on our own, and you wouldn't be able to stop them either. They'd kill us and half the town and then, when it you wanted to stop the killings, you wouldn't be able to."

"How many are there?" Sam asks.

"Right now there are at least six," The first blood-sucker answers, "But there will probably be more by the time they arrive."

"I suppose we don't have much choice then," Sam says, "We'll help."

I peak my head out of the bushes to get a better look at the vampires. It looks like there are seven of them. Three females and four males. The smallest of them looks like a pixie, there is a tall blond, and one that looks, sort of... motherly.

The oldest male, the leader, has blond hair, there is a wiry looking one, one that is HUGE.

The last male has beautiful bronze hair and honey eyes. As I look at him, the world spins, gravity shifts.

_Oh my God! I just- I just.._ I take off running as fast as I can back into the woods.

_Dude, what's wrong? _Embry asks.

_I- I just imprinted! _I answer, panicking.

_Y-you just...?_

_Yeah_ I answer.

_On a vampire?_ He asks.

_Yeah_.

_Well...I don't suppose that's _too_ bad. I mean, it could be worse right? I suppose the blood-sucking girls are kinda pretty, _Embry says trying to comfort me.

_I wish I'd imprinted on a vampire girl_, I say sadly.

_I'm confused, _Embry says.

_I imprinted on the bronze haired male._


	6. Chapter Five

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Five

**JAKE'S POV**

_You imprinted on a GUY?! _Embry asks, sounding shocked, _But then, I mean-_

_Yeah_, I sigh.

He starts to laugh. Loudly. _You-you imprinted on a guy!_

_I thought we'd already established that_, I growl. _Stop laughing._

He doesn't even bother to say anything else, he just continues to laugh at me.

_Cut it out,_ I insist.

_Ha ha ha ah._

With a growl, I launch myself at him.

* * *

**EDWARD'S POV**

"What's going on?" Sam asks.

"We can't tell," another dog answers, stepping out of the woods in human form, "Jake just took off and his thoughts were all jumbled. Embry went to see what was going on, but all we can get out of his head now is hysterical laughter."

"Well if he's laughing, it can't be _too_ bad," Sam says.

"Yeah," the other one replies, "But my guess is that it's really embarrassing for Jake. Do you think he peed himself when he saw so many vampires at once?"

"I don't know," Sam answers, "Change back to wolf form to find out."

"Wait," I say, throwing my mind out in the direction the wolves 'Jake and Embry' went, but they're too far away. I push my mind even further, and I can hear a little bit of what they're thinking.

_...Not funny Embry... serious... no laughing._

_...Funny...imprinted on a vampire..._

"What's an imprint?" I ask, looking back at Sam.

"Huh?"

"What's an imprint?" I ask again.

"Why do you need to know?" Sam asks.

"I read minds," I explain, "I can't really hear Jake and Embry very well because they're so far away, but I heard 'imprinted on a vampire'. Now, what is an imprint?"

"Well, it's... umm... I don't know how to explain it."

"Have you done this imprinting thing?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"You can just show me the memory if that makes it easier," I say.

"Um... do I just remember? Is that how you'll see it?" He asks.

"Yes."

And then I'm falling into a memory.

_"That is my cousin Emily," a pretty girl says, pointing, "We used to be really close when we were younger; almost like sisters."_

_My view turns to the direction the pretty girl was pointing, and there is who I can only assume is Emily, standing alone._

_She has gorgeous almond shaped eyes and her lips are upturned in a small smile._

_My vision begins to funnel until all I can see is Emily. She begins to grow even more beautiful until it is almost painful to look at her._

"Wow," I say, gasping.

"Yeah," Sam says, smiling at the memory. But the smile is short lived and is quickly replaced with a frown, "And you said Jake imprinted on one of you?"

"Well I don't see any other vampires out here," I answer irritably, "It sucks to be him; all the girls already have mates."

"What?!" Emmett asks.

"An imprint is like... love at first sight," I explain.

"And one of those dogs _imprinted _on one of the girls?" Emmett asks, a snarly rumbling through his chest.

"It looks like it," I answer.

"Are you sure you heard right?" Sam asks, "You said you couldn't hear them very clearly."

"I'll double check."

I stretch my mind out again. Jake and Embry are running back towards the border.

_Just wait until the rest of the pack finds out_, Embry says, I get the impression that if he had lips, he'd be smiling.

_Shut up, Embry. _Jake says.

_I can't wait to see everyones' faces when they hear that your soul-mate is a male vampire_. Embry says, trying unsucessfully to supress a snicker.

Jake gives a mental groan. _Embry you'd better stop teasing me._

_Or else what, Girlie?_

_This,_ Jake says. A picture flashes to life in his mind, fuzzy at first, but then I see my face. My features seem to be enhanced and my face glowing. Accompanying my face there are a jumble of confused emotions, but the most dominant is lust.

I feel Embry's mind recoil from Jake's just an instant before me.

"Well?" Sam asks, "Did he imprint?"

"O-one second," I say, as my thoughts race around in my head.

A werewolf imprinted on me. What does that even mean? What happens now? How should I answer Sam's question? Why'd he have to be a guy? Why couldn't my soul-mate have been a nice vampire girl?

"H-how does it work?" I ask Sam.

"How does what work?" Sam asks.

"The whole imprint thing," I answer, "I mean, I've seen it through your mind, but does the wolf have the choice of ignoring the imprint? And what about the person who is imprinted on?"

"Both _kind of _have a choice," he says, "An imprint is mostly physical attraction, but wolves only imprint on their soul-mates. The two are perfectly compatible. The imprint binds the two with lust until they fall in love."

"I don't see how that gives anyone a choice," I mutter grumpily.

"Well if a wolf or an imprint didn't want to be with the only one they could ever love unconditionally and could be loved in the same way, they _could _leave. So, there is a choice, but it's a stupid one."

"Huh," I say, absorbing what he'd said.

"So I take it Jake _did _imprint on one of you," Sam says.

All I can manage is a nod.

"W-which one?" Jasper asks, pulling Alice closer to his chest.

"Don't worry Jasper," I say with a sigh, "He didn't imprint on Alice," I turn and look at Carlisle and Emmett who were also looking worried, "He didn't imprint on Rosalie or Esme either."

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Sam says, but I see understanding flare in Carlisle's eyes.

I look down, and I know that if I was human, I'd be blushing so hard I could be mistaken for a tomato, "H-he imprinted on _me_."

I sneak a peak up at my family. They all look shocked with the exception of Carlisle and Emmett.

Carlisle is nodding as if this makes sense to him.

Emmett is grinning from ear to ear. I groan aloud as Emmett starts laughing.

"You- you're a vampire who's a-a fairy," Emmett chokes out between bursts of laughter.

"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?" I ask.

"Nope."


	7. Chapter Six

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Six

**JAKE'S POV**

_How do you think the pack is going to take it? _I ask nervously as Embry and I run back to the pack.

_Just fine, _Embry assures. _You'll get made fun of... a lot...but we'll all accept you. You're our brother._

_Thanks Embry, _I say.

We both skid to a stop as we get to the bushes just before the clearing. We shift back to human form and pull on our shorts.

_I really hope they accept me still,_ I think.

Embry must see the worry in my face because he leans over and says, "Don't worry. Quil imprinted on a two-year-old and the pack didn't desert him."

"Yeah, but at least Claire is a girl, and the right species," I mutter.

We enter the clearing and I walk up to Sam, "I need to talk to you," I say, "_Privately._"

"We already know," Sam says, "You imprinted on Edward."

_Edward's his name?_ I think looking over at him. It feels like butterflies the size of birds are beating around in my stomach. _Damn him. Why does he have to be so cute? Stupid cute vampire._

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"Edward can read minds," Paul says.

_He can read- but I was just thinking- and _"Oops," I can feel myself blushing and I really hope it can't show. _I was just thinking about... his appearance. Did he hear that?_

Edward coughs, "Um... yeah. Please don't think about me like that."

My cheeks feel like they catch on fire and I know that everyone _has_ to be able to tell now.

"Oops," I repeat, "So... uh... what did I miss?"

"Nothing really," Sam says. Then he turns to the vampires, "So, who are these attackers? Why are they attacking you? And do you know how many there are going to be?"

"They're newborns," the leader... Carlisle?... says, "There creator is mad at us because we wouldn't help her kill her old coven. We aren't sure how many vampires there will be, but they're only newborns, so with your help it shouldn't be too hard to kill them."

"What's the difference between regular vampires and these newborns?" Sam asks.

I ignore the rest of the conversation. I need time to think about what happened this morning. _So, my soul-mate is a male vampire. What does fate have against me? This was not supposed to happen. I was supposed to imprint on some nice human girl. _

_Although..._ I look up at Edward._ He's more beautiful than most girls._

Edward gives a groan.

_Sorry._ I say_. I really can't help my thoughts._

Edward sighs and nods.

_It's all your stupid fault for being so beautiful in the first place._

He groans again.

_Sorry._

"It's decided then?" Sam asks loudly, turning my focus back on the conversation.

"I think so," Carlisle says, "4 a.m. then?"

"Perfect," Sam says, "We've got to go now."

"Four? What?" I ask.

"The next meeting," Sam says.

I stare at him blankly.

"So they can teach us the strategies for fighting newborns."

I keep staring.

"What were you doing during the whole conversation?"

"Umm," is all I can manage.

"Never mind. I don't want to know," He says before shifting to wolf form and running back towards town.

The rest of the pack and I follow his example.

_So are you guys all... grossed out?_ I ask, knowing they'll know what I mean.

_Extremely_, Sam says, _But it's not your fault; you can't choose who your imprint is._

_Good,_ I say, glad they don't all hate me.

_But God, he's gorgeous,_ I think, remembering his honey-gold eyes.

_Jake!_ The pack shouts at me.

_Sorry._

* * *

**EDWARD'S POV**

I stare after them for a moment.

"Edward," Alice calls.

"Huh?"

"We're leaving now," Alice says, "We've already told you three times."

"Oh, sorry," I say.

"What were you thinking about?" She asks.

"Oh, nothing," I say.

I feel horrible lying to her, but what was I supposed to do? Tell her that I was thinking about how frustrated I am that Jake is cute?


	8. Chapter Seven

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Seven

**EDWARD'S POV**

I walk slowly up to my room, barely aware of my family as they try to get me to talk to them.

"Come on Edward," Alice calls after me, "You have to come with us. We've all got so much to discuss."

I ignore her and continue up the stairs; I've got much more important things to think about then some family discussion. As soon as I get into my room, I quickly lock the door behind me. It's not as if the lock could keep any of them out if they really wanted to come in, but Esme would yell at them for making a mess.

_What am I supposed to _do_?_ I wonder. _Do I just accept the imprint or do I stay away from La Push? And what is Jake going to do? Is he going to try to ignore me? And even if we both decide to accept it, what-_

"Edward!" Rosalie yells, pounding on the door, "Come down now! We're having a family meeting and you can't sit holed up in your room like this."

"Leave him alone," Jasper says, "He's upset. He needs some time to himself to think."

"Still, when we're having a family discussion he should at least come down and talk to us. I mean I don't expect him to answer all our questions, but we need to talk about this whole imprint thing," Rosalie insists.

"He'll come down when he's ready," Esme says, "Let's leave him alone for now."

I breathe a sigh of relief as they go about their business. I know they're still talking about me because I can hear them saying my name, but I don't pay attention to what they're saying.

_Where was I when Rosalie interrupted me?_ I wonder. _Oh yes. I was driving myself crazy with all the questions I don't have answers to. Even if me and Jake _do _get together what then? An eternity of being teased by my brothers? How long do werewolves even live? As long as humans? Longer? I don't know anything about werewolves. _With a sigh, Edward puts his head in his hands.

_How am I supposed to deal with this?_

* * *

**JAKE'S POV**

_I think the clock slowed down,_ I complain in my head as I pace in front of the clock in my room. _Is it wrong for me to be looking forward to four?_

I check the clock for the millionth time. 2:37.

_Is it ever going to be four?!_

All of a sudden the phone rings. I run over to it and pick it up before it can wake Dad.

"Hello?" I say, "Who's there?"

"It's Sam," he answers, "We're having a meeting before we meet up with the blo- Cullens. Get down here as soon as you can."

Without waiting for me to say anything else, he hangs up on me.

With a sigh I rummage through my drawers in search of the leather cords we use to carry our clothes around when we're in wolf form. After a few minutes of searching, I find it. Then I'm on my way.

Sam never specified a place, but we usually meet up at his house unless he says otherwise, so I start heading in that direction.

After running a short ways, other voices join my head.

_Hey Jake! _Quil 'says'. _Do you know why we're having this meeting?_

_No idea,_ I answer.

_I've got a pretty good guess,_ Paul says, _He's probably going to tell us not to get to close to the blood-suckers or to get into a fight with them, and then he's going to ask Girly-Boy here what he's going to do about his leechy imprint._

I try and fail to suppress a growl. _I'd like you not to insult my imprint._ I say venomously. _Push me too far and I _will _hurt you._

_Hey now, everybody just calm down now, _Embry says. _Let's try not to kill each other until we get to Sam's house._

_Fine,_ Paul and I mutter at the same time.

I slow down as I get closer to Sam's house. He's outside waiting for us in human form. Leah and Embry are also there.

I shift back to human form and quickly pull on my pants.

"What's this whole meeting all about?" I ask.

"We'll discuss it whenever the rest of the pack shows up," he answers, "But before that, I'd like to talk to you in private."

"What about?" I ask.

"Well I'll tell you when we get somewhere private," he says, dragging me by the arm into the woods.

"Is this about Edward?" I ask.

"Yes," he says stopping a good seventy feet away from Leah and Embry, "I need to know how you're taking this whole imprint thing."

"Well I- I," I pause for a moment, "I'm really confused. I've thought about this so much and it seems like the more I think about it, the more confused I get. I mean, first of all, he's a he. I've always liked girls, but he's just so... I can't help but like him. And I barely know him and still I'm obsessing over him and I just- So I guess I'm freaking out because not only he's a vampire, but he's a guy and still he's my soul-mate."

"You sound very confused," Sam says sympathetically.

"Kind of," I say, "I know that he wouldn't be my imprint if we weren't meant to be together, but still..." I trail off not knowing what to say next, "I'm very confused."

"You know what I think?" Sam asks, "I think that you should give it a chance. An imprinting hasn't gone wrong yet and you might be surprised how much you can get along with him."

"So you're saying go for it?" I ask, perplexed. I'd assumed that he'd be one of the ones trying to convince me to stay away from Edward.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," he replies, "Now let's get back to the others. The rest of the pack is probably there by now."

We head back over to where we had left the others, and sure enough, the whole pack is there.

"Okay," Sam says in a loud voice, "You're all probably wondering why I've called this meeting. All I've really got to say is that we should quietly watch as the Cullens demonstrate the new strategies. Don't get in their way and don't come in contact with them. Jake being the exception if he chooses it."

"I-" I begin, but Sam quickly cuts me off.

"You don't have to decide right now," he says, "Just show up and see what happens."

I nod in agreement.

"Now," he says, "Does anyone know what time it is?"

Leah pulls out a watch from her pocket. "About 3:30."

"Alright. It's time to go meet up with the Cullens," Sam says.

* * *

**EDWARD'S POV**

"Come on, Edward," Alice says, "You've got to come with."

"I don't want to," I mumble, turning my music up.

She begins beating on the door, "Edward-"

"No," I say.

"But-"

"Alice, stop it," Jasper says from outside the door.

"But Jazzy..." She lets her sentence trail off.

"You go ahead and go; I'll talk to him," he says.

"Alright Jasper," she says with a sigh. I hear her turn and run away.

"Edward," Jasper calls, "Open up the door and come out."

I doubt Jasper will physically drag me to the meeting with the wolves, so I open up the door a crack. "What?" I ask.

"You really should come with," he says, "I know this is all weird and new for you, but you can't just hide up in your room like a little kid because you're scared."

"Well what am I supposed to do?" I ask, "This is all so strange. After a hundred years I thought I'd seen it all but this is so different and confusing. I don't have any idea what I should be doing or how this is going to work out."

"Edward, you care about him. Already you do, and you've only seen him for what, five minutes?"

"I don't care about him," I say stubbornly.

"You can't lie to _me_ about that kind of thing," Jasper says, "You care about him and he cares about you. I don't see how this whole imprinting thing can _not_ work out. It seems to me like you can't do anything but love each other. Don't you want to be happy Edward? Sure it might be a little rough at first, but it seems to me like everything's going to be fine."

"Y-you think so?" I ask, "What about Alice, has she seen anything?"

"She hasn't seen anything at all about you," Jasper answers, "Carlisle thinks Alice can't see werewolves."

"But if Alice can't see werewolves and she can't see my future then..."

"Then your future probably involves the wolves?" Jasper finishes, "Yeah, that's what Carlisle thinks too. But we've all been so worried for you."

I feel really guilty as he says this; I really should have talked to my family. At least to tell them that I'm alright.

I see Jasper flinch as he picks up my guilt.

"Sorry," I say.

"So, are you going to come?" Jasper asks.

I want to go, but I'm so nervous. Suddenly I feel waves of confidence from Jasper.

"Thanks," I say. Then I sigh. "Alright then. Let's go."


	9. Chapter Eight

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Eight

**JAKE'S POV**

_Where's Edward? _I wonder. I'm sitting along the border with the rest of my pack. We're all in human form. The Cullens all arrived a few minutes ago, but Edward and the blond-haired male didn't show up.

Embry takes one look at my face and pats my shoulder, his eyes seem to be sympathetic. Sometimes it's scary how well he knows me, but we've been friends since before we could walk and you tend to learn a lot about people when you have to spend so much time in their heads.

"Maybe he'll be here next time," Embry mutters quietly, trying to make it so only I can hear.

"Yeah, and maybe he won't," I say, equally quiet, "He's probably freaked out by this whole situation and he's avoiding me."

"Nah, I'm thinking something just came up. He's probably wherever the blond one is... unless you did something to make the blond one avoid you too?"

"No, of course not. I've never been anywhere _near _the blond one," I say.

"I know, I was teasing," Embry replies.

"Oh," I say.

"So, are you going to stop being a worry-wart?" he asks.

I let out a sigh, "I'm pretty sure you're going to keep distracting me so I _can't_ worry even if I want to."

"That sounds about right."

A rustle of leaves and two flashing blurs later, and I'm staring at the bronze-haired angel.

Then I realize I'm staring, so I quickly drop my gaze to the floor._ I hope he didn't notice that._ I think. But then I remember he can read minds. _Damn this is going to be awkward. I can't control what I think and he can hear every word of it. This is so embarrassing._

I look over at him just in time to see him turn his head away. _Great. So he _is_ listening to me as I make a fool of myself._

"Good job," the big vampire says, giving Jasper a high five, "You got Edward out of his room! I didn't think he was ever coming out."

_He really didn't want to come? Does he not like me then. Oh no, he can hear me now and I'm making a fool of myself and- and- Edward? You _are _listening to me, right?_

He gives a slight nod.

_I need to know now if you hate me or not. I mean, otherwise I'll spend all my time worrying and sad- anyways, tell me straight out. Do you want me to stay as far away from you as possible?_

He hesitates for a moment before shaking his head no.

I feel a smile split my face as I struggle to stop myself from jumping up in down from happiness.

_Calm down._ I ordered myself. _You are _not_ to jump up and down like a little girl who just got asked out._ I feel a blush spread across my face as I realize Edward heard that too.

_Gah! Bad brain. Stop thinking embarrassing things._ I yell at myself.

I look back at Edward, expecting him to realize I'm crazy and he did want me to stay away from him after all, but instead he is smiling. Well, he's not quite smiling, but he's definitely amused.

I smile at this small triumph. _W-would you mine talking to me? In private? There are a lot of things I want to talk to you about and it would be kind of uncomfortable talking about some of it with an audience._

He stares at me for a moment, not answering, and I'm afraid that I've scared him off. _Not that we have to or anything. _I think hurriedly. _This is fine I just... _I trail off as he begins shaking his head.

He gets up as if to leave and I feel myself begin to panic. _Did I push him too far to fast? _I wonder, then I shout in my head, _I''M SORRY._

Edward gets to the edge of the clearing and he turns and motions for me to follow. _Huh? Oh! He's going someplace private. Does he want me to cross the border? _He nods.

I turn back and look at Sam. He nods and motions for me to go with Edward.

I catch a glimpse of Leah as I turn back towards Edward. She is definitely NOT happy. But I _am_ happy, so it doesn't faze me as much as it normally would have.

"She's going to make life hard on you," Edward says. It's the first time I've ever heard his voice. It's like velvet dipped in honey coated in sugar.

"Um... I'm pretty sure that velvet dipped in honey doesn't sound like anything."

I feel my face become a few degrees warmer.

_It's so weird having someone always know what I'm thinking. I'll have to learn to sensor my thoughts or something._

"No, don't do that," Edward says, "I like listening to your thoughts. Besides, aren't you used to it with the pack listening in all of the time?"

"It's different," I murmur, trying to find words to explain, "With the pack it's not so bad because we all know everyone's' secrets. Everyone's in the same boat, so it doesn't matter as much. But with you, I have no idea what you're thinking and you can just read my thoughts as if they were a book."

"Isn't this far enough?" I ask. We're over a hundred yards from where we left the others.

"Vampires have really good hearing," he explains, "I'll probably end up telling my family about this later, but I'd rather not them hear it firsthand."

"Are you close to your family then?" I ask, trying to make small talk.

"Yes, I'd say we are quite close," Edward says, "They've always helped and supported me."

We enter a clearing and there are several fancy cars. Edward walks around to the passenger side of a silver Volvo and opens the door, "Aren't you coming?"

It's then that I realize that my mouth was hanging open. I close it with a snap and climb into the car. _God, his car is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! Well, other than him of course. _Which brings on another round of me being mad at myself for thinking something exceptionally stupid.

"Do you like cars then?" Edward asks, ignoring my embarrassment.

"Yeah," I say with a smile, "You could say that. Where are we going?"

"It's a place I go when I want to be alone. A beautiful meadow. Don't tell anyone where it is; it's a secret."

_He's telling me secrets, _I think with an uncharacteristic giggle. And then, _Stupid giggle! Stupid traitorous thoughts; he can read you!_

He drives extremely fast, abandoning all traffic rules and speeding along well over a hundred miles an hour, so it's not surprising when we get there in less than five minutes.

It takes another fifteen minutes to walk to the meadow, and Edward and I spend the whole time talking. It isn't uncomfortable talking to him as I thought it would be, but more of an easy conversation you would expect between old friends.

We avoid talking about the imprint, even though I'm sure we're far enough away that his family won't hear; I'm waiting until we get to the meadow to talk about that. Instead we discuss our likes and dislikes. I learn that he plays the piano and likes to compose his own songs. I tell him that I'm an amateur mechanic and we get to an in depth conversation on cars.

When we finally get to the meadow, Edward sits down off towards the edge. With a shaky breath, I take a seat beside him.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Edward asks, "I doubt you wanted to talk to me about music and cars."

"No I- I wanted to talk about _this_."

"This meaning the imprint?" Edward asks.

I look at him, exasperated.

"Okay, yeah. I guess I know that's what you wanted to talk about I just..." He sighs.

"So um, how do you feel about this whole imprinting thing?" I ask nervously.

"I feel..." he hesitates for a moment as if trying to discern his own emotions, "Confused."

"Well, what do you think we should do?" I ask.

"I-I don't know," he mumbles, looking down; suddenly very interested in the pattern on his shoes, "On one hand, you're... attractive and you seem like someone I could talk to, but on the other hand, you're a guy and my mortal enemy. And I don't know anything about you. I only met you yesterday."

"Don't you at least want to try?" I ask, "Just to see if it will work out? You're my _imprint_. Chances are we'll be happy, even if the whole arrangement is a little odd."

"Maybe," he answers, biting his bottom lip, "But can we take this slow? I'm really not very sure about this yet. I mean, we're both guys and I just...I'm still uncomfortable with this."

"We can go slow," I assure him, "As slow as you want; I don't want to rush into this either."

"Okay," he says shakily, "Let's go ahead and try this."

I smile at him, "We should talk some more. I want to get to know you better."

We talk about music for a while and Edward promises to let me hear some of the songs he wrote for the piano. Then we talk about cars for a while and we argue over which are the best types of cars. Edward insists that his Volvo is the best car, but I say that a midnight blue Porsche would be best.

We talk more about our families. I tell him about my dad and the pack, and he tells me about the members of his coven. About halfway through the conversation, I reach out and grab his hand. I know that he said he wanted to take it slow, but it's only a hand, right? He doesn't shake my hand off, or frown. He just looks at our hands for a moment and nods.

I smile and go back to arguing about cars.

I notice that the sun is beginning to rise of in the horizon. "Do you know what time it is?" I ask.

He looks down at his watch. "Six-thirty," he says.

"Oh! I've got school, I guess I have to go," I say sadly.

"Okay," he says, "But can- can we meet up again sometime? In the meadow?"

"Alright," I say, "When?"

"After school today?" he asks, "Would that be okay?"

"Sure."

"Would you like a ride home?" he asks.

"I would," I say, "But I have to get ready for school and even if you do drive really fast, I can still run their faster."

"Oh," he says, "Alright. Well bye."

We both stand up to leave and I notice that he's almost a full head shorter than me. "Yeah, good bye," I answer.

I look down at him, his golden eyes are sparkling. I know he said he wanted to take it slow, but I can't stop myself. I reach down and kiss him. At first Edward stands rigidly in my arms, and I'm afraid I've pushed him too far. I start to move away, but he grabs a fist-full of my hair and begins to kiss me back. All my nerve ends catch on fire and the world begins to glow.

An immeasurable amount of time later, I break away, gasping for air.

"So much for taking it slow," Edward says, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry," I mutter, looking at my toes.

"Don't be," he says, reaching out and grabbing my hand.

I smile at him, "I really do have to go get ready now or I'll be late for school."

I dash off into the woods, shift, and run off towards home, smiling the whole way.

* * *

**EDWARD'S POV**

I lift my hand to my tingling lips as Jake runs away, and I feel my lips twist up into a smile.

_I can't wait until after school today._


	10. Chapter Nine

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Nine

**EDWARD'S POV**

If school had been torture before, it was nothing compared to today. It was as if time had stopped and the day would never end.

Usually when I get too bored at school, I'd make up some excuse and go home, but I really don't want to go there right now; right before school started my siblings kept asking about where me and Jake went. I love my family to death, but I'm just not ready to talk to my family about this yet.

While all the others have been teasing me I don't know how Esme and Carlisle are handling this. I haven't talked to them since Jake imprinted on me. They're the closest thing I've got to parents and I really hope that they're okay with this.

The whole day, I sat staring at the clock waiting for 2:30.

The minute school lets out, I rush out of class and run towards the Volvo.

"Hey, Edward! Wait!" Rosalie shouts, "Where are you going?"

"I got to be somewhere," I shout back over my shoulder.

"But you're supposed to give the rest of us a ride!" She yells back.

_Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about that._ I run back and hand her the keys.

"Edward, where are you-"

And then I take off running towards the meadow. I run as fast as I can, and make it there in record timing, yet somehow Jake's already sitting there waiting there for me.

"Oh good," Jake says, "I was worried you weren't ever going to show up,"

"But," I look down at my watch. The 2:31 changes to a 2:32, "School's barely been out for two minutes."

I sit down beside him.

"Oh," Jake says, slapping himself on the forehead, "Schools on the reservation get out at 1:45. I wasn't thinking."

A red mark starts to form on Jake's forehead and I start to laugh at him.

"What's so funny?" He asks.

"You've got a big red mark where you slapped yourself," I inform him.

"Really?" He asks, blushing and putting a hand on his head.

"Yes," I lean over tentatively and quickly place a kiss on the red mark, "Right there."

He grins down at me. He's got a silly grin really; it looks much too big for his face, and it makes me smile too.

He pulls me closer to him and wraps his arms around me. It feels odd to be held like that. Not bad, it's pleasant even, but it's odd all the same. He pulls me up onto his lap and places a kiss on _my_ forehead.

"So how was your day?" I ask.

"It's much better now," He says, "School was very boring and the day seemed to drag on forever."

"Me too, but do you think you got it bad?" I ask, "I've been a junior at least a dozen times already. I could probably teach the classes a whole lot better than the teachers can."

That gets a smile and a chuckle out of him. "That sucks. Poor you."

"Humph. Stupid unsympathetic werewolves," I grumble.

He chuckles some more, "Sorry."

I let out a sigh and then ignoring the oddness of it I bury my face against his chest and he pulls me even closer to him, wrapping his arms even tighter around me.

_He's so warm. _I think happily.

"You know, for a vampire you smell really good," Jake says, "Usually I hate the way vampires smell."

"It's the same with us," I tell him, "Usually werewolves smell horrible to us. You smell really, really good." I inhale his scent deeply.

I feel Jake stiffen, "N-not like 'yum' right? Just pleasant?"

"Don't worry," I say, "I'm not gonna eat you."

"B-but I smell..._tasty_ to you?" Jake asks, disgust thick in his voice.

"Hmmm," I say, considering for a moment, "You yourself smell really good. You're blood is...well, it's not repulsive, but it's not as appealing as a normal human's."

Jake's face has taken on a slightly greenish hue. "Let's not talk about blood anymore, okay?"

"Sorry," I mutter looking down.

"There's no need to be sorry," Jake says, tilting my chin up so I meet his gaze, "Let's just not talk about it anymore, alright?"

_God, his eyes are beautiful._ Jake thinks.

"Thanks," I say with a smile.

For a moment, he looks at me with confusion and then:

_Gah. I don't like you in my head._

"Even if I could stay out of your head, I wouldn't. I like knowing your thoughts."

He shakes his head at me and frowned. _Meany._

"Yep."

He lets out a sigh. _Fine. Hey! I've been wondering, how are you coven- er- family taking this whole imprinting thing?_

"I haven't really talked to them about it much yet, but I'm planning to soon. What about you? How'd the pack take it? How did Billy?"

"There hasn't been a pack meeting since what happened last night. Well I suppose it was actually early this morning, wasn't it? Anyways, Sam and Embry have been supportive at least," He says, "But I... I haven't told Billy yet. I made Sam promise not to let the pack tell him."

"How come?" I ask, trying to keep the hurt out of my tone. Was he ashamed of me?

"I- I want to tell my dad I just-" he runs his fingers through his short hair, "What am I supposed to say? 'Hey guess what Dad, I must be gay or something because I imprinted on a really gorgeous male vampire. Yeah I know he's supposed to be our enemy, but I really don't care about that anymore' I'm sure _that _will go over well."

"You wished you'd never met me," I say sadly.

"No, that's not it!" Jake says quickly, "I-I think that I'm falling in love with you. I'm just not sure how to make him understand that."

"I'm falling for you to," I tell him, with a smile, "I guess that imprint thing was right after all."

"It always is," he says, pulling my face up towards his and showering me with kisses.

After a while he pulls away and looks at my watch, "Ugh, I'm going to be late."

"Late for what?" I ask.

"Sam wanted to meet with me today, I think it's about what happened and where you took me this morning."

"Fine," I grumble, "But I get another kiss first."

"Alright," he says with a smile before crushing his lips down on mine. Our lips part and our tongues dance with each other. The kiss lasts for several minutes before he breaks away apologizing.

"I really have to go."

"Should we meet here again? Tomorrow?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says.

"Alright. I'll skip my last class. So I'll meet you here around 1:50. Is that okay?"

"I've got to drop the Rabbit off at Dad's, so I probably won't get here until 2."

"Okay," I say, "See you then."

He bounds off into the woods and disappears from sight.

With a sigh, I turn and run towards home.

As soon as I get there I run up the stairs towards my room as fast as I can.

"Wait just one minute!" Esme says loudly, "You are _not_ going to ignore us anymore. It's time we sat down together as a family and we talked about this."

"Fine," I say letting out a sigh, "I guess you're right."

"Really, just like that?" She asks, "I mean... You bet I'm right."

I follow her into the living room and sit down. The rest of the family is already there.

_They were planning this. _I realize.

"See I told you he'd come," Jasper says.

Emmett grumbles and shoves some money into Jasper's hand.

"So what do you want to talk about?" I mumble to Esme, looking down at the floor.

"That werewolf," she says.

"Jake," I correct, "His name is Jake."

"Oooh J_aaake,_" Emmett says making his voice extremely girly.

I shoot him a venomous glare and Rosalie beats Emmett over the head saying, "Cut it out."

"Jake then," Esme says, ignoring Emmett and Rosalie, "I know it's not our business, but we're your family and I think we deserve to know what's going on. What _is_ going on? How are you handling the whole imprint thing? Most importantly, are you alright?"

"I-I am fine," I say, "Everything is working out fine."

"Do I have to pry it out of you? What I really want to know is if you two are... a couple."

"I-" I'm flooded with embarrassment and I look at my toes, "Yeah."

"Finally," Esme says, excitedly, "I was beginning to think you weren't ever going to find a mate. I'm so happy for you."

"So y-you're okay with this?" I ask.

"Of course," Esme says, "Sure it's a little odd, but you're happy and that's all that matters."

"Y-you aren't disgusted?" I say.

"I think it's kinda gross, but you're still our son," Carlisle says, "No matter what you like."

"Thank you," I say pulling him and Esme into a hug, "Thank you so much."

"It doesn't matter to me either," Alice says.

"Or me," Jasper and Rosalie say at the same time.

"You'll always be my favorite little queer," Emmett adds.

I let go of Carlisle and Esme to glare at Emmett.

"Don't mind him," Rosalie says, "He's an idiot."

"Rosie!" Emmett whines, "I am _not _an idiot."

"Uh huh," she says sarcastically.

"No really, I'm not," he says.

I sit there uncomfortably for a moment, "I'm going up to my room now," I say.

"Alright, Dear," Esme says, "But don't forget we've got to leave at four, so be ready to go."

"At four?" I ask, "How come?"

"Strategic meetings, remember? You're actually going to have to stay for this one if you want to help us fight off the newborns. You can meet up with Jake on your own time."

I duck my head, "Okay."

I go up to my room and play some music, I turn my stereo up as high as it will go. I look at my clock. It's 8 o'clock.

_What am I supposed to do for six hours?_


	11. Chapter Ten

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Ten

**EDWARD'S POV**

When my family and I get down to the border, the pack is already waiting for us.

_Hi Edward!_ Jake says happily.

I smile at him and nod hello.

_Freaks, _Leah says. I shoot her a venomous glare.

_Don't mind her,_ Jake says_, She's just jealous that I've got an imprint and she's alone._

_Jake_! Sam scolds_, Don't say things like that._

_Sorry, Sam_, Jake says, not feeling any sorrow at all_, Hey Edward. Come over and sit by me!_

_Uh... I'm not sure I feel comfortable letting any of the bloo- er vampires cross the border_, Sam says_, I'm sorry Jake, it's not like I don't trust him, I just... _

_Then can I come over there?_ Jake asks.

I smile, sit down, and pat the patch of grass besides me. Jake trots over besides me and places his head on my lap.

"You're huge, you know that?" I mutter. And he is huge; his head barely fits on my lap.

He sticks his tongue out at me and it looks absurd on his wolfish face. When I laugh at him for it, he growls playfully and pushes me over.

"That was uncalled for," I grumble and he lets out a bark of a laugh.

So then I stick my tongue out at him.

"If you love birds are through, we've got a fighting lesson to start," Jasper says loudly.

I look up and notice that everyone is staring at me and Jake. I look down at the ground and feel very grateful that I can't blush.

"So," Jasper continues, "Since Edward and Jake missed the last meeting, we're going to have to do a bit of a review. The only thing that really happened yesterday was I talked about the newborns' strategies. Newborn vampires aren't very skilled fighters, they go for the easy kill and attack with brute force. They usually come head on, not from the sides."

"That's all you did yesterday?" I ask skeptically.

"Well we kind of got off topic when I used Emmett as an example for a newborn and we decided to see was the best fighter between us."

"Who one?" I ask curiously.

"Me," Jasper says with a smirk.

"Bah. I could beat you," I say, a smile growing on my face.

"We'll see."

"How's winner decided?" I ask

An image flashes in his mind of teeth barred at a throat.

"Alright," I say.

Jasper and I get up and face each other.

The fighting begins, Jasper makes me feel slow and sleepy while I see what he's going to do the second he decides to do it. We match each other blow for blow, neither of us gaining any advantage over the other.

"Neither of you are going to win," Alice says after about five minutes, "It's going to end in a tie."

Jasper and I grumble about how even if we tied, we're still better then the other and I return to my spot beside Jake.

_You're good at fighting,_ Jake says, placing his head on my lap again. _Very good. Remind me not to get on your bad side._

"Even if I did get mad at you, I still wouldn't hurt you," I mutter quietly trying to keep the conversation as private as I could.

_I know,_ Jake says, bumping his nose against my chest.

"Good," I say, patting the fur on Jake's head. His fur is a beautiful color really; a dark reddish brown.

"The best thing to do when fighting a newborn," Jasper says, "Is to use speed other then strength. Try to keep out of their reach and attack them from the side or when they're distracted."

Jasper's lesson drones on, and I sort of pay half way attention to what he's saying, but mostly I just think about Jake.

As weird as the whole situation has been, I'm really glad that Jake imprinted on me. I've known him for such a short time, and already I'm falling head over heels.

It feels so _good_ to be loved. In all my time on this earth, I thought that I was complete in myself and I didn't need another person outside of my family to be close to, but since this thing happened with Jake, I don't know how I managed to live alone.

_Bye Edward, _Jake says, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I say.

Jake grins a big wolfy smile at me.

_Weren't you paying attention? Jasper's done talking and the pack is leaving._

"Oh, okay. Bye," I say, pulling him into a hug.

"Um.. Jake?" Esme says, rushing over to us, "I would love it if you would stop by the house some time and meet the family. You're... well, you're sort of a part of it now and I want you to feel comfortable around us. If you could stop by sometime I'd be grateful."

_Uh...Edward?_

"It'd be fun," I say, "We could go there tomorrow instead of the meadow."

_I... uh..._

"Y-you don't have to," I say trying to hide my disappointment, "It was just a suggestion."

_No- I, uh- I want to go but... what if they don't like me?_

I grin down at him, "You don't need to worry about that."

_Okay, then. So I'll see you at 2?_

I look up at Esme, "He'll come over at 2."

"What about school?" Esme asks.

"His school gets out at 1:45 and I've been through school plenty of times. It's not like I'll be missing anything," I say.

"Oh," Esme says, "Well then, see you tomorrow at 2, Dear."

_Did she called me Dear?_ Jake asks sounding confused.

"Well yeah," I say, "As far as she's concerned you're part of the family now."

Esme nods.

_Tell her...I'm grateful for that._

"He's glad that you're being so welcoming," I translate.

"No problem," she says patting his head.

_I've got to go now,_ he says. I look around and see that the rest of the pack has indeed left.

"Bye," I say again.

_See you tomorrow,_ he says, before bounding off.

* * *

**JAKE'S POV**

I run home and look at the clock. It's 5:26.

_I can take a short nap before I've got to get ready for school,_ I think.

I lay down on my bed and close my eyes, but I don't fall asleep. I can't. I'm too worried.

_What if his family don't like me? They seemed so accepting before, but I've never actually talked to them. Hell, they haven't even seen me in human form yet. What if they don't like me and they don't think I deserve Edward?_

Thoughts like this continue to rush through my head until my alarm beeps. 6:25.

_Gah. School._

* * *

I fiddle nervously in my Rabbit as I drive to Edward house. I'm wearing my best jeans (the only ones I have that don't have holes or grease stains in them) and I actually combed my hair this morning.

I had to stop and ask for directions to Edward's house because I was too dumb to ask him for his address, but luckily it seems like everyone knows where they live.

I pull up at the house and see that it's huge.

_They must be loaded or something,_ I think looking up at their house, _I don't know why that surprises me; he had a Volvo for God's sake, but still..._

I shake my head.

_I thought rich people were supposed to be stuck up and rude, but Edward's nothing of the sort, and from what I've seen of Edward's family so far, I doubt they're stuck up either._

I hear a laugh from behind me; Edward had sneaked up on me. "I'm glad you don't think I'm stuck up," he says, "My family isn't either...well, except maybe for Rosalie, but don't tell her I said that."

"I-I'm not sure I can do this," I say, trying to smooth my hair down, "What if they don't like me? What if I do something really stupid and embarrass myself?"

He pulls my hand off my head. "You're hair looks fine," he says, "My family will love you, how can they not? Don't worry about a thing."

I smile at him and pull him into a hug.

"Well if you're sure..." I say.

"I'm sure," he says.

"Alright then, let's go."

Edward smiles at me and tugs me by the hand to his house.

Esme and Carlisle are waiting for us right inside the door.

"It's so good, to meet you," Esme says, "Or well, to see you this way and actually be able to talk to you."

She pulls me into a tight hug. She smells terrible, but she's being so kind I don't want to pull away, so instead I whisper, "Thank you for being so welcoming."

"No, thank _you_," she whispers quietly into my ear, "I was starting to think Edward was going to be alone forever."

"Nice to see you again," Carlisle says once Esme has let me out of her hug. He extends a hand which I shake.

"Nice to see you too," I mumble.

Alice bounds down the stairs, trailed by Jasper, and gives me a hug. "Hi Jake," she says as if we're old friends.

"Urm...Hello."

"Alice, what are you doing here?" Edward asks, "School hasn't let out yet."

"You thought that I was going to miss you introducing Jake to our parents for something as insignificant as school?" Alice asks, "You're kidding, right?"

Jasper nods hello to me and I give a small wave in return.

We all stand awkwardly in front of the door for a moment before Esme ushers us all into the living room. I sid down on the sofa besides Jake.

"I want to know everything about you," Alice tells me excitedly, "What's your favorite color?"

"Um... probably-"

"Hot pink," a voice from the hall says.

I turn and look in time to see Rosalie whack Emmett upside the head.

"Don't mind him," Rosalie says, "I haven't managed to get him to stop that yet."

Emmett begins to pout and rubs the spot where Rosalie smacked him.

"Oh you big baby," she says, "That can't have hurt you."

"So," Alice says as if nothing had happened, "What's your favorite color?"

"Dark blue," I say, "Or silver. I don't know, I like them both."

"Favorite band?"

"Anything other than Country."

"Favorite car?"

"Porsche."

"Me too!" Alice says excitedly, "It's a sign! We're destined to be best friends."

_You're sister's a little...eccentric,_ I think at Edward. I see the corner of his mouth twist up to a smile and he gives a slight nod.

He reaches out and takes my hand.

"Awww," Emmett says, "The little fru-frus are _soooo_ cute!"

"That's it," Rosalie says, "You're in trouble mister."

"But Rosie," Emmett whines.

"But nothing," Rosalie says, dragging Emmett away by the ear, "You're in trouble."

"What's a fru-fru?" I whisper to Edward.

"I dunno," he whispers back, "I'm pretty sure he was calling us gay though. He's been making coments like that since you imprinted on me; he thinks it's funny."

"I'm going to go take Jake on a tour of the house," Edward says.

"Alright," Esme says.

Edward pulls me up and drags me up the stairs, "What do you want to see first?" He asks.

"Um... your bedroom," I say.

"Do that sometime when no one else is home," Emmett shouts from upstairs, "We have really good hearing, you can't do that kind of thing while we're here."

I hear a thump followed by an, "Ow. Rosie why do you keep hitting me?"

"I didn't mean it like that," I mumble feeling my face heat up.

"Everyone knows that," Edward assures me, "Emmett's just trying to tease me since I'm normally the one teasing him."

"A-alright," I say.

Edward continues to pull me up the stairs and through a door.

Edward's room is really cool. Shelf after shelf of Cd's line the walls of his room. The walls are silver and his carpet is very shaggy.

"It's so cool," I whisper, "You've got so many Cd's."

"I like a lot of music," he answers, "I like everything except for music from the seventies. That was horrible."

"How old _are_ you?" I ask, "I know you signed the treaty the last time you were here and that puts you at at least 60."

"I was born in 1901," he says.

"Dang," I reply, "You're old."

He sticks his tongue out at me, "I'm young at heart."

I let out a snort and lay back on his bed.

"You're family is really nice," I say, "Well, other than Emmett, and I think once he gets over the stupid gay jokes he'll be okay too."

"They're not stupid!" Emmett shouts from the other room.

"Stop listening in on our conversations," I shout back.

"Esme is especially nice," I continue, "I like Alice, and Rosalie makes me laugh."

"Yeah," Edward says, "They are really accepting."

I smile. Then I consider that for a moment and the smile slides from my face.

"What's the matter?" Edward asks.

_Dad._

"What about him?" he asks.

_I-I want to introduce you to him really bad, but I don't know how he'll take the whole imprint thing. I'm worried._

"Don't worry," Edward says, crawling next to me on the bed and laying down, "It will be okay."

I pull him to me and cling to him as if he's a teddy bear and I'm four again.

_But- but what if it's not okay?_

"I-if you could get Sam to let me over the border I could help you explain it to your dad," Edward says, "You just need to convince Sam to let me go over once."

"Alright," I murmur, breathing in the scent of his hair, "Thank you, Edward."

* * *

**Okay, a few things I should say, Alice said school wasn't important. I do not agree with that or indorce it in any way. Stay in school kids.**

**And I doubt you'll find fru-fru as a word for gay people anywhere other then my friend Austin.**

**Also, please, please review people, this was a long chapter.**


	12. Chapter Eleven

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Eleven

**JAKE'S POV**

When I leave Edward's house, my mind is reeling with questions. How am I supposed to get Sam to let Edward cross the border? How do I tell my Dad that not only did I imprint on a guy, but he's also a vampire? How will he react?

It's only seven, so I decide to drive over to Sam's house to talk to him about the whole Edward crossing the border thing.

I turn the stereo of the Rabbit on, but I'm too distracted to really listen to the music. When I finally get to Sam's house, I'm feeling nervous and edgy.

_Might as well get this over with, _I think, getting out of the car and knocking on his door.

"Come in!" Sam shouts from inside the house.

"Hey Sam, it's me," I shout back heading towards the living room.

"Jake?" Sam says, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about Edward and...my dad," I say.

"Well go on and sit down," Sam says, motioning to a chair next to the couch.

"You see, I want to tell Dad about Edward," I say, "But I- I need help explaining it to him."

"You want me to help you tell your Dad you're gay?" Sam asks raising one eyebrow.

"No," I say nervously, "I want... I want you to let Edward come over the border to help me explain it to him."

"Jake," Sam says, shaking his head, "I do _not _want those blood-su- vampires in La Push. They might slip up, and even if they don't slip up, Paul or one of the others might attack _them_. It's safer for us all if they just stay on their side of the border."

"But Sam," I say, "It's just Edward and I'm only asking for this one time. He doesn't ever have to cross again, but I need his help explaining things to Dad."

"Can't you just talk to your dad on you're own?" Sam asks.

"No," I say, chuckling quietly, "I'd chicken out."

"So the only way you're going to tell your dad is if Edward's with you?" Sam asks, rubbing his hand across his forehead.

"Yep," I answer simply.

He lets out a sigh, "Then I guess he can cross the border just this once. But if anything bad happens, it's coming out of your hide. Got it?"

"Thank you, Sam!" I say excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah," Sam says, "When is he going to be in La Push? I need to know so I can warn the pack."

"Um... probably tomorrow," I say, "We've been meeting after school, but since tomorrow's a Saturday, I was going to go over to his house and spend the day there. I'm pretty sure he'll be okay with going to my house tomorrow instead; he was the one who offered to help me tell my dad."

* * *

When I get home after talking to Sam, I just want to drop into bed, but Dad has other ideas.

"I want to talk with you," he says, the moment I walk into the house, "For the past few days, you've been gone from after school until bedtime doing who knows what. I need to know what's going on here."

"I- I'll tell you tomorrow, Dad," I say, "Right now I'm really just sleepy. I want to go to bed."

"Jacob William Black I want to talk to you right now, not later! You will not get out of talking to me about this to me by putting it off."

"I'm not trying to put it off," I say, "I really will talk to you about this in the morning, but right now I'm going to bed."

Before he can say anything else to me, I run upstairs to my room and slam the door.

_That was a close one._

* * *

**EDWARD'S POV**

I pace impatiently in my room as I wait for Jake to show up.

_Do I look okay? Is my hair alright?_ I straiten my hair yet again in the mirror before a wave of embarrassment washes over me. _I'm acting like a lovestruck little girl, _I scold myself. _I really need to stop doing that._

Then I hear a knock at the door and half a second later I'm answering it. Jake is standing in front of the door biting on his lip.

"Hey Jake," I say, "What's the matter? You look nervous."

"I- I talked to Sam about letting you cross the border to help me explain things to Dad, and he said yes."

"Do you want to go right now?" I ask.

"I don't have much of a choice," he answers, "Dad was bugging me about where I've been. He gets like this sometimes; he won't rest until he figures out what I'm up to."

"I'd help you make up some excuse," I say, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

"I want to," Jake says, running his fingers through his hair, "But I'm real nervous."

"It'll be okay," I assure him, "Now come on. We'll take my car; it's faster." I lead him to the garage.

"Can I drive?" he asks.

I look at his pleading eyes for a moment, then I toss him the keys with a sigh, "I guess, but if you hurt her, I'll rip you to shreads."

"Her?" Jake asks, a smile on his face.

"Yes, my car is a her. Got a problem with that?"

"Nope," Jake says, it looks like he's trying hard not to laugh.

I scowl, at him, "Gah. Let's just go."

_What if Billy doesn't like me? _I wonder. _What if he hates me and wishes Jake hadn't imprinted on me?_

I'm so wrapped up in my thoughts, it takes me a few minutes before I notice Jake's thoughts.

_What if Dad hates me? What are his views on gay people? What if he kicks me out of the house? What's gonna happen? What if-_

"Jake, stop that," I say.

"Stop what?" he asks, sounding puzzled.

"Stop thinking like that," I say, "He's your _dad_ he has to love you no matter what."

"B- but what if he doesn't?" Jake asks, trying to keep his voice steady.

"You could always live with me and my family," I say, "That wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

"You think you're parents would really allow that?" Jake asks, "If things went bad?"

"Of course," I say, "You didn't think we were going to leave you on the streets did you? But I don't think you have to worry about it. There's no way Billy will kick you out."

"Thanks Edward," Jake mumbles, turning to look at me.

I smile and put my hand in his, "You're welcome. Now eyes back on the road."

I look up and notice that we're pulling into a drive way.

"We're here," Jake says.

"Sure you're ready for this?" I ask.

* * *

**BILLY'S POV**

I irritably wheel myself to the kitchen and pour myself a bowl of cereal.

_Jake _promised_to talk to me first thing this morning and he went and snuck off while I was still asleep. I recon he won't come back 'til ten o'clock complaining about how it's too late to talk to me._

I let out a sigh before taking a bite of my cereal.

_What happened to the good ol' days when Jake'd tell me everything?_

Just then I hear the door opening.

"Dad?" Jake calls.

"I'm in the kitchen," I holler, "And you get better get back here right now. You were supposed to tell me where you've been for the past few days."

"That's what I was coming to talk to you about," he says, coming into the kitchen, "You see I- I imprinted."

"Really?" I ask, "That's wonderful. I can't wait to meet her!"

"Uh..."

"What?" I ask puzzled. _Doesn't he want me to meet her?_

"I'll explain in the living room," he says.

I wheel myself into the living room to see a yellow-eyed vampire standing awkwardly at the door. I gape at him for a moment before turning to gape at Jake.

_What's going on? Why is there a Cullen in La Push, much less my house?! Why isn't Jake doing anything about it?_

Jake takes a deep breath,"Dad," Jake strides over to the vampire and grabs it's hand, "This is my imprint, Edward Cullen."

_This is a joke, it has to be a joke._ I begin laughing hysterically.

"I'm sorry, Billy," the Cullen says, "But it's no joke."

And then the world goes black.

* * *

**JAKE'S POV**

"What happened?" I ask, panicking.

"Calm down; it's okay," Edward says soothingly, "He fainted, that's all."

"He- he _fainted_?" I ask.

"Yep," Edward says, "He's going to be fine, don't worry."

"He fainted," I say again, "Then... how do you think he's going to take the whole imprint thing when he wakes up?"

Edward grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly, "I don't know."

I sit down on the couch and pull him up onto my lap and kiss the top of his head, "Thank you for being here with me."

"No problem," he says.

I hold him tightly against me and bury my face in his bronze hair.

_I hope Dad's okay with this._

* * *

**Okay peoples, how do you think Billy should react? I really don't know, so I want some suggestions.**

**I expect this story to get to 100 reviews before I update again.**

**(Don't complain, that's only 6 more reviews.)**


	13. Chapter Twelve

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Twelve

**JAKE'S POV**

I cling to Edward as I wait for Dad to regain consciousness.

"It'll be okay," Edward says for the thousandth time. Like all the other times he said it, his words don't bring me much comfort.

"I sure hope so," I say.

As I finish saying this, Dad begins to stir, "Jake?" Dad says, "What happened? I-" Then he turns and sees Edward in my arms and his eyes grow wide.

"Dad?" I say tentively, "Are you okay."

He opens his mouth as if to say something, but all that comes out is a squeaking wheeze, so he nods and holds up his hand as if to say wait.

"Dad?" I say again.

He coughs and then says shakily, "Then...t-this really isn't a joke?"

"No, Dad," I whisper squeezing Edward's hand tighter.

"But, I thought- I mean- ick," he says with a shudder.

"Dad I-" I start.

"Now wait just one minute," he says, recovering full use of his mouth, "How long since...this happened?"

"Um..." I pause thinking back, "Four days?"

"Four?" Edward says.

_I know, _I think at him. _It feels as if we've been together much longer than that._

Edward nods in agreement, "We've been seeing each other at both strategic meetings _and _on our own," he murmurs quietly, "It makes it seem like we've been together twice as long."

"Four days?" Billy says, "How come you didn't tell me the moment it happened? How did the pack react? Why didn't _they _tell me? Have you_ always _been gay?" Dad says the last word with such disgust that I find myself flinching, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I didn't tell you immediately because I was afraid of how you'd react. The pack is okay with it other than Leah and I don't give a damn what she thinks. The pack didn't tell you because I asked them not to, and before Edward, I used to like girls," I say quickly.

He makes a funny noise.

"Do I disgust you?" I ask quietly.

"Of course not," Dad says, "It's just...weird. It wouldn't be _so_ bad if it was a human guy, or a vampire girl, but did you really have to go and imprint on a male vampire?"

"You can't choose your imprint," I say. Then I feel Edward flinch in my arms, "But even if I could, I still would've picked him. He's a nice guy Dad, please just give him a chance."

"I-I'll try," Billy says uncertainly. I can see him trying to clear his face of all traces of disgust.

I let out a sad sigh and bury my face back in Edward's hair.

"It could've been a whole lot worse," Edward whispers, rubbing his thumb across my hand in small circles.

Edward slips off my lap and sits next to me on the couch.

"He's probably way to old for you," Dad continues, "How old is he?"

"107," Edward mumbles.

I feel my lips stretch into a smile and I even see the corner of Dad's mouth turn up.

"What?" Edward asks, "Am I missing out on something?"

"Dad's never let me date anyone older then me. He's always said the only way I could was if they were my imprint."

"Even if he is your imprint that's pushing it a little," Dad grumbles.

"You never specified an age," Edward says, obviously having picked the story out of me or Dad's minds.

"I suppose not," Dad says, and then, "Wait! How did you know that?"

"He reads minds, " I say.

Dad's face colors, "Oops."

It feels like deja vu, only last time, I was the embarrassed one.

"Don't worry about it," Edward says, "I'd expect those kind of thoughts from anyone in your position."

"What-?" I begin, but Edward mouths 'later' to me, so I stop.

I feel very awkward sitting there with Edward and my Dad.

"So...," I say, "Edward and I should go now; we don't want to give Sam a hernia."

"Wait," Dad says, "Jake, don't come home late tonight; I want to talk to you alone before you go to bed."

"Okay, Dad," I say, dragging Edward out the door.

"I swear I almost had a heart attack," I say.

Edward nods, "You're heart was beating twice as loud as normal, but I figured if I said anything, you'd just get more nervous."

"Good thinking," I say, "Now do you want to go down to the beach with me?"

"I thought we had leave or risk Sam having a hernia?" Edward says, a question in his voice.

"I was uncomfortable," I say, "I had to say something to get us away somehow."

"But do you think Sam would be okay with me going down to the beach?" Edward asks skeptically.

"Well we don't have to tell him," I say, "By the time he finds out about it it'll be too late."

"Jake," he says, "If Sam was nice enough to let me cross the border, I really shouldn't be doing something that'll make him mad."

I stick my tongue out at him, "Stupid vampire," I grumble, "You've got to go and be a _good person_. Ugh."

He smiles up at me, "Yep. Now let's go back to my house; I'll get you something to eat."

At the mention of food my stomach lets out a growl.

"Okay," I agree.

* * *

**JAKE'S POV**

I don't come home until nine. I figure that's the latest I can show up and it not be considered _too_ late. I try to sneak in quietly, but Dad hears me.

"Jake?" he calls from the other room, "Is that you?"

I mumble cuss words under my breath, "Yes, Dad."

"Then come in here," he shouts, "I want to talk to you."

I come in and sit on the couch. He turns the T.V. off.

"I-" I begin, but Dad cuts me off.

"Wait," he says, "I want to say somthin' first."

I nod and he continues, "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier, I was just kinda shocked is all."

"It's all right," I mumble.

"No, it was really rude of me," he says, "Will you apologize to the Cullen for me?"

"Yeah, Dad."

"And...you know I love you no matter what, Jake." He says and I feel as if a great weight has been lifted off my chest.

"You- you aren't ashamed of me?" I ask.

"Course not," he says, "I'm really sorry I was so mean earlier, but did you really have to pile it all on me at once? I'm lucky I didn't have a heart attack!" he says this in a scolding voice, but he has a smile on his face.

"So you're really okay with all this?" I ask

"I'm still a little shell shocked," he says, "But I'll get over it."

"Thanks, Dad."

"But," Dad says, "Just because I'm alright with the whole imprint thing does NOT mean that I'm okay with you spending _all_you're time with him. Come home and talk to me every now and then. Don't forget about Quil or Embry or the rest of the pack."

"I..." I sigh, "Okay, but right now I got to go to bed; I really am tired this time."

"G'night," Dad says.

"Good night," I answer.

I head up to my room feeling much better than I have in a long while.

* * *

**This chapter is short. That bugs me, I was doing so good on making nice long chapters and then I went and made the last two too short.**

**Oh well, I'll just think of them as two parts to one chapter.**

**I sound dumb blabbing on like this. sigh**

**_Anyways..._ REVIEW.**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Thirteen

**EDWARD'S POV**

After Jake leaves, I go upstairs and blast my music as loud as I can. _How will Billy take this?_ I wonder._ Will he be okay with it? What did he want to tell Jake in private?_

I never would've admitted it to Jake, but I _was_ kind of worried that his dad would kick him out. _What would happen then? Jake will always have a place here with my family, but wouldn't he hate me if his dad kicked him out for imprinting on me?_

The ringing of my cell phone brings me out of my thoughts. I look at the clock and notice that almost an hour has gone by.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring.

I turn the volume down on the stereo and pick up the phone, putting it to my ear, "Hello?"

"Edward? It's Jake."

"Oh," I say, turning the stereo off completely, "Um... how did things go with Billy?"

"Really well," Jake says, a smile in his voice, "After he'd gotten over the shock, he took everything great. He even wanted me to tell you he's sorry for being so rude."

"That's great," I say, glad that Jake's so happy.

On the other end of the phone, Jake tries to stifle a yawn, but I can hear it anyways.

"You should probably go to bed," I say with a sigh, "Stupid boyfriends that have to sleep."

"Huh?" Jake says, "Does that mean that you don't have to sleep."

"Didn't you know that?" I ask, "I mean, I thought werewolves were supposed to know this kind of stuff."

"We probably should," Jake says, "But we don't know everything about your kind. It's not like whenever we see a vampire we sit down and have a nice long chat with it. With the exception of your family, we've killed every vampire we came across."

I force down the urge to shudder, "Well then when we meet up tomorrow we can talk more about this. You might know quite a bit about vampires already, but I know next to nothing about werewolves."

"Alright," Jake says, before giving a huge yawn.

"You should go and get some sleep before tonight's strategic meeting," I say.

"Yeah," he answers, "Bye."

"Bye," I answer, before hanging up the phone.

I climb off my bed with a sigh and go downstairs to see if my family's doing anything that will keep me busy until I can go visit Jake.

I head down to the living room, but the only one there is Carlisle watching the news. I turn around and start to head up the stairs, but Carlisle turns off the television and calls out, "Edward?"

"Yes?" I ask hesitantly.

"Can you come here for a moment?" he asks.

I turn and go back into the living-room, "Yes?" I ask again.

"I want to talk to you," he says, motioning for me to sit on the couch next to him.

"Alright," I say, sitting down, "What do you want to talk about?"

"About you and Jake," he says, and I feel myself tense up.

"What about Jake?" I ask, forcing myself to respect his privacy and not search his mind.

"I wanted to explain to you my views on this sort of thing," he says, and I feel a long speech coming on, "It's just that it seemed really rude when I told you that- that you being gay grosses me out. It's really been bothering me and I thought I should apologize."

I open my mouth to tell him that his apology is accepted, but he continues on.

"It's just that growing up in my time everyone was taught that being gay was wrong. Me especially coming from a family as religious as mine. But I used to hate vampires as well, and... I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I can learn to deal with vampires I'm sure I'll get over you being gay."

"Uh... thank you for apologizing," I say awkwardly, though I really am glad that he said something.

He pauses for a moment as if struck by a sudden thought, "How has Jake's father taken the news?"

I smile, "It must be a good night for fatherly acceptance; Jake just called me saying that his father was okay with... uh... everything."

Carlisle looks sheepish, "His dad got over faster, didn' t he?"

"No," I say, fighting laughter, "Jake brought me over to his house this morning and his dad fainted. He freaked at first, he's just now getting over it."

"Oh," Carlisle says, with a smile,"That makes me feel a lot better."

I nod and look at the clock. Six hours until the meeting.

* * *

**JAKE'S POV**

Beep, beep, beep.

Through my grogginess, I try and hit the snooze button.

Crunch.

I sit up and look sleepily around my room.

_It's still dark out. It's too early to go to school,_ I notice. Then I see my smashed alarm clock. _Damn it! Not again!_

I go to the bathroom and splash water on my face.

_Now why am I awake again?_ Edward's face flashes through my mind. _Oh yeah! The strategic meeting. I'm gonna be late._

I run out the door, taking off my pants and shifting into wolf form.

_What took you so long? _Sam asks in my mind.

_Forgot what was going on, _I explain,_ I smashed my alarm clock._

_Again?_

I let out a growl. _Yes again. _

_Whatever,_ Sam says, _Just hurry and get down here. Everyone else is already here._

_Sure, sure._ I say, running towards the border. _Is Edward there?_

The rest of the pack groans.

_Yeah, he's here, _Sam says, _But could you try to keep the 'I-love-my-vampiric-boyfriend-so-much' thoughts quiet?_

_Uh... I don't think I can._

The pack groans again.

_I could shift to human form when I get there,_ I suggest.

_But that'd leave you unprotected,_ Embry says.

I let out a bark of a laugh, _They won't hurt me._

_Maybe Edward won't, _Embry says, _But how can you be sure about the others._

_They've been really nice to me,_ I say, _The mother-figure, Esme, even invited me over to their house._

_Did you go? _Embry asks.

_Well, yeah,_ I say, _It would've been rude not to._

_You went to their house and they were_ nice _to you? _Embry asks, disbelief coloring his tone.

_Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's only because I make Edward happy, but they're nice to me. __I'm going to switch back to human form, _I say as I come close to the clearing.

After I shift, I jog into the clearing.

Just as Sam said, everyone is there waiting for me, and when I show up they all turn and stare.

"Uh..." _Edward, can I come sit by you? _I ask mentally.

He nods his consent and I run over to him.

"You look sleepy," He whispers to me as I sit down.

"I feel sleepy," I answer, "I had a hard time waking up. I broke my alarm clock."

Edward smiles at me affectionately, before pulling himself up onto my lap.

Emmett lets out a wolf-whistle and I turn to glare at him.

"One of these days," Edward says, "I'm going to rip him into little pieces and burn him."

"He's not that bad," I say, "He's just... on second thought, I think I'll help you burn him."

"Hey!" Emmett shouts.

"Only joking," I say, trying not to laugh.

"You better only be joking," Rosalie says, "Even if Emmett is an idiot, if you or Edward hurt him in any way, I'd-"

She stops abruptly as Alice falls over, her eyes glassy.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"She's having a vision," Edward explains.

After a moment, Alice gasps and looks up, her eyes no longer glazed, "They'll be here in two weeks. There's twenty, maybe thirty of them."

Jasper nods, "Okay then," he says, "We're going to have to work faster if we want to be prepared."

And then he immediately launches into a lecture on complex fighting techniques, and for once I actually try to pay attention instead of staring at Edward's face.

The meeting is long, and by the time Jasper is finished my eyelids feel like they weigh ten tons. I'd wanted to spend some time with Edward, but I'm really too tired to manage it.

"Good night," I whisper to Edward when it's time for me to go.

"Sweet dreams," he whispers back.

"I'll see you tomorrow when I wake up, okay?"

"Sure," he answers, a smile twisting on the edge of his lips.

Then I turn sleepily and run back home.

* * *

**Well, I was just reading the first half of Midnight Sun on Stephenie's website when I remembered that I hadn't updated this story in a while. So, obviously, I updated.**

**Since I updated, it's your job to review.**

**(Please?)**


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Fourteen

**EDWARD'S POV**

_Is he ever going to wake up? _I wonder, laying on my couch, staring at the ceiling.

I glance at the clock. It's only been a few hours since I saw him last.

_When did I get so impatient? I've been alive for over a hundred years. You'd think in that amount of time I would've learned some patience._

With a sigh, I move to my stereo and turn it on, blaring the music as loud as it will go.

_And when did my life become about him? When did he become all that I thought about and all that I cared for? _I picture his face in my mind and my heart does a little back flip. _When did I become a helpless little school-girl with a crush? And most importantly, why don't I care that everything has changed so much?_

I stare at the ceiling for hours thinking about a lot of things. Does he feel the same way I do? Everything is changing, but is he glad for it as I am, or does it make him sad? How are things ever going to work between us? And how long do werewolves live?

After a while, I hear Jake's Rabbit pulling into the drive and I run down stairs to greet him.

"Hey, Jake," I say, smiling, as he enters the door.

"Hi Edward," He returns, a grin appearing on his face. He reaches out for me and pulls me against him, wrapping his arms around me.

I snuggle up against chest, feeling very content and warm, "Let's go to the meadow today," I suggest, still pressed against his chest.

"Alright," he says, smiling at me and for a moment I would swear my heart beat, "But then we've got a lot to talk about."

"Yes," I say biting my lip, "We do." _Please let werewolves live longer than humans, please let werewolves live longer than humans. _I chant it again and again in my head, a silent plea to a god who I doubt would listen to the likes of me. _Please, please, please let werewolves have long lifespans._

I follow him out the door and he turns to look at me, "Can I drive your Volvo?" he begs, jutting his lip forward as if he were a small child, "Please?"

"Alright," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Thanks Edward," he says, rewarding me with another one of his smiles.

The drive and the walk to the meadow is quiet. I spend most of the ride gathering my thoughts and listing the questions I have to ask Jake in my head. One thing I _have_ to do is ask him how long werewolves live, no matter how scared I am of the answer.

When we finally get there, Jake sits in the middle and I climb up onto his lap.

"Jake?" I say, making it a question.

"What?" he asks.

"H-how long do werewolves live?" I ask, determined to get the hardest question out of the way.

He grins down at me, "As long as we want," he answers, "As long as we don't stop shifting shape for an extended length of time, we don't age."

"Oh, thank God," I say, snuggling up against his chest, "I was so worried; I had no idea how long werewolves lived. I wasn't even sure if you'd live as long as a human."

"Don't worry," he whispers, his warm breathe tickling my ear, "I'm not going to die. I won't let myself be taken away from you."

A warmth rises up in my stomach and sends my heart fluttering, "Good," is all I manage to reply and even that word I manage to choke on.

"Now I've got some questions to ask you," he says, "Um... does holy water really hurt you?"

"No," I say, laughing, "That's just a myth."

"Hmmm..." he says, "I already know you don't sleep, so I guess the coffin idea is out. I've seen you in the day before, so that's a myth. Um..."

"But have you ever seen a vampire in bright sunlight?" I ask, "There is a reason why my family moved to the rainiest town on Earth."

"The sun _will _kill you?" Jake asks, eyes wide.

"No," I say, laughing, "I'll show you sometime."

He looks at me for a moment, "Can't you just tell me now?"

"It's something I'd rather show you," I answer, "We can go the next time it's sunny out."

"Fine," he grumbles.

"Back to questions," I say, trying to get us back on track, "I'm guessing silver does nothing to you?"

"No," he says, chuckling, "And I don't howl at the moon."

"Dang," I say, feigning disappointment, "That'd be cool."

"Edward?" he says suddenly, "Uh... I've kinda been wondering...um, are you venomous?"

"Yeah," I say, feeling him flinch around me I quickly add, "But don't worry about kissing me. That won't hurt you."

"...Okay," Jake says slowly.

For several moments he stares at my lips and I begin to feel self-conscious. "What?" I ask.

"Uh... d-do you have fangs?"

"No," I say, looking down. The more that we talk about my... vampirosity? vampireness? about my being a vampire, the more uncomfortable I grow.

"Can we talk about something else now?" I ask.

"Sure," Jake says, "But first... vampires live forever, right? I mean, you were born in 1901 but..." he lets his sentence trail off.

"I'm immortal," I confirm.

"Good," he sighs. Moving to lay on his back, he pulls me down beside him and pulls me as tightly to his chest as before.

We lay like that for a while, not saying a word. Just enjoying being close to each other.

Eventually he places his lips by my ear, his breath tickling my neck and ear, "I love you," he whispers.

My stomach does back flips and for once I feel warm from head to toe. It's the first time he's actually said those words to me. Sure, before he implied that he cared about me a great deal, but he never came out and said this.

"I love you too," I whisper back. I feel a smile cross my face, "I love you so much."

And then the kissing begins. It's so much deeper than he's ever kissed me before, and the feeling is so much better. I kiss him back eagerly.

And then he starts to pull off my shirt.

* * *

**JAKE'S POV**

Kissing Edward is definitely the best thing in the world. It makes my blood boil, my nerve ends catch fire. It makes it so I can't think strait or breath right.

Taking a deep breath after an especially long kiss, I find my thoughts coherent enough to wonder how much better it would feel if I could manage to pull some of his clothes off.

I start tugging on his shirt, but it gives me some trouble.

I feel Edward stiffen under my hands and I look down at him. He isn't looking at my face, but at my hands on his shirt. He puts his hands on mine, and for a moment I think that he's going to help me take his shirt off, but then he prys my hands off.

"What are you _doing_?" he asks.

"I-I was just..." I trail off confused. Didn't he want this as bad as me?

"Of course I want that," he says, avoiding my eyes, "But Jake, we've only known each other for a week! We were supposed to be taking this slow? Remember?"

"A week?" I ask confused. _Has it really only been that long?_, "But I feel like I've known you much longer than a week. It feels like I've always known you. It may have only been a week, but I _love_ you."

"I love you," Edward echos.

"Then what's the problem?" I ask.

"W-what if I hurt you?" Edward asks.

"I'll heal," I say, "Werewolves heal fast."

"Would you heal if I crushed your skull?" Edward asks, finally looking up and meeting my gaze. Sorrow is etched into every line of his face, "Would you heal if I killed you."

"You wouldn't kill me," I mutter, looking down.

"Not on purpose," he says, "But what if there's an accident? I-I just found you Jake. I've been alone for over a century, I just found you, and I sure as Hell don't want to lose you a week after I found you just because we weren't content with a perfectly fine situation."

"But Edward-"

"No."

"Will you promise me you'll consider it?" I beg.

He looks up at me and sighs, "I'll think about it."

"In the mean time, it's not like we have to go _all the way,_ but can't we do a little more?"

Edward sighs again and rubs temples as if he has a head ache, "Give me some time to get used to this, Jake. I need to test my self control a little bit. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to 'go all the way', but I'll try and give you what I can. No matter what either of us wishes, we _have _to take this slow. If we don't I might hurt you."

With a sigh I lay back down on the meadow ground. _Damn it! I really wanted to take his shirt off._

"Edward, I love you, but your rules stink."

* * *

**Okay, so I've had a few people ask about how Alice knew the fight was going to happen if she can't see wolves. She wouldn't have to see the actual fight going on, she'd just have to see Victoria coming to Forks.**

**If you wanted some dirty scene between Edward and Jake, then sorry. This story is rated T, not M. Besides, I'm a fourteen-year-old girl, not a gay guy, so I doubt I could make a scene like that believable. So again, sorry.**

**REVIEWS MEANS A HAPPY RACHEL**

**A HAPPY RACHEL MEANS UPDATES**

**REVIEW!**


	16. Chapter Fifteen

****

I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT

Chapter Fifteen

**JAKE'S POV**

I flop down on the couch next to Dad, sighing. _Why couldn't he just take his shirt off? _I know I shouldn't be so whiny, but it really upsets me that Edward won't let me do anything other than kiss him.

_You really shouldn't complain,_ I remind myself._ Most people don't even _have_ wonderful vampire boyfriends._ I shudder at the thought. _All those poor people._

"Glad to see you home, Jake," Dad says, a smile plastered on his face "I was startin' to think you weren't ever going to leave his side." Dad doesn't say who's side he's talking about. He doesn't need to. We both know that Dad's talking about Edward.

"Uh huh," I say, not really paying attention; still caught up in my thoughts.

"Somethin' the matter?" Dad asks.

"Um...no," I answer. What am I supposed to tell him. 'well I'm a little depressed because my vampire boyfriend won't let me get into his pants'?

He looks at me for a moment before nodding. "There _is_ something wrong," he says, "I don't expect you to tell me what it is, but if you ever need to talk, I'll be here."

"Thanks, Dad," I say quietly. _If I ever get up the courage to talk to you, I'll remember that._

Dad nods again, "Well me and Charlie were planning on goin' fishing today. Did you wanna come with?"

"No!" I say a little too quickly, "I mean, you two will have much more fun without me there."

"Well what are you gonna do?" he asks.

I think for a moment, "I"ll go hang out with Quil and Embry."

Dad smiles aprovingly, "Good, I'm glad you're making time to be with your friends."

_I'd be spending more time with Edward if he wasn't hunting. _I shiver at the thought. I love the guy, but the whole drinking blood thing still really creeps me out.

Dad looks at my expression curiously for a moment before saying, "Well, I'm supposed to meet Charlie in a half hour at his place. Could you give me a lift?"

"Sure," I say, following him as he wheels himself to the Rabbit. I wait patiently as he slowly pulls himself up into the truck. I would help him, but I know from past experience that he won't accept my help; he likes to do it himself. As soon as he gets in, I lift his wheelchair into the back of the Rabbit.

"Thanks for the ride, Jake," Dad says as I climb into the vehicle.

"No problem," I say, smiling so he knows I mean it.

The rest of the drive to Charlie's house passes by in silence. When we finally get to his house, Charlie is sitting outside waiting for Dad.

I get the wheel chair out of the back of the truck and Dad starts climbing out.

"Billy, guess what?" Charlie says, "My daughter's coming to visit me!"

* * *

**Okay, from here on out, I'm going to be making the whole thing up as I go along. Before I had the general idea of where everything was going, but now...**

**I want peoples' opinions. I am NOT going to have Bella get with Jake and/or Edward. But should she still befriend them both? Who _should_** **she end up with? A pack member? A vampire? Mike? Eric? That other guy whose name I'm forgetting?**

**I want suggestions! I want Reviews!**


	17. Chapter Sixteen

****

I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT

Chapter Sixteen

**Three days later. Edward's POV**

_How do human's eat this stuff?_ I wonder prodding my uneaten food with a fork. _It smells terrible. _With a sigh, I walk to the nearest trash can and dump the food.

_Oooh._ A thought across the room shrieks loudly._ Here's Bella! I hope I'll be able to get her to sit next to me._

I roll my eyes. The whole school seems enamored with the newest addition: Bella Swan. Personally, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I've seen her in other peoples' thoughts, and she just seems like a shy girl.

I turn my attention towards her. She looks just like I'd seen in the others' minds. She has pale skin and dark hair. Her eyes are a chocolaty brown.

_She's pretty, but she's not _that_ pretty. _I think. I throw my mind out towards her to see how she's taking her inexplicit popularity and I get...nothing.

_What the-? _I throw my consciousness out again, and just like the first time a grasp at nothing.

_Is she brain-dead or something?_I study her for a few moments as she talks with the annoying girl who keeps asking me out. Jessica I think her name is.

_She must be thinking _something_ to be able to talk to the Annoying-Jessica-Girl. So why can't I hear it?_

The bell rings and I leave with a sigh. _Oh well. I'll figure it out later._

I glide through the halls to my next class and slide quickly into my seat.

I look at the clock and am filled with excitement. _I'll get out of school in another hour and a half. _A smile spreads across my face. _And only a few minutes after that I'll see Jake again. _

I tap my pencil impatiently on the desk as the other students file into the class room.

_Hurry up and get this over with. _I complain silently to the teacher.

_What am I relearning today? _I wonder taking a peek into the teacher's mind.

_She made it to class on time! _He thinks, _Even if she is the last one in the room._

I look up. Standing in the door way is Isabella.

She walks past my table and up to the teacher's desk. She stirs the air around me and her scent reaches my nose.

It hits me like a brick wall.

It is the best thing I've ever smelled, and it makes my entire mouth fill with venom.

In that moment, I don't care that I'm in a room full of children. I don't care how many witnesses there are. All I want to do is to kill her. To feel her hot blood driping down my throat. To find out if she tastes half as good as she smells. To-

Angela sets her folder down and fresh air hits my nose.

_Jacob,_ I remind myself, _What would Jacob say?_An image appears in my head of Jake. Of him looking upon my red eyes with disgust, and seeing me for the monster I am.

"I have to go to the restroom," I announce, doing my best to keep my voice even. I gather my things and, holding my breath, run as fast as I can without alarming the humans.

After exiting the classroom, I run as fast as I can, not caring if the blur will scare anyone.

I collapse in the woods. _What do I do? What do I do?_

What I want to do is run to Jake, but he's on the reservation. And though I'd like to think that I'd never hurt him, after all the willpower it took not to kill Bella, I don't want to risk it.

_If I can't go to Jake, and I don't want to admit to my family what happened........I'll have to leave._

* * *

**Alright, you probably thought I fell off the face of the earth. That didn't happen, I was just working on a different story. If you want to read it (please read it) it's **at http:// www [dot] fictionpress [dot] com/s/2524160/1/Locked_Cages


	18. Chapter Seventeen

****

I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT

Chapter Seventeen

**Edward's POV**

I push the gas pedal flat against the floor as I take my phone out of my pocket and dial Jake's number.

....Beep........Beeep......Be- "Hello?"

"Jake?" I ask.

"Hey, Edward," he says, "I'm just about to head out now. I should get to the meadow in about-"

"I'm not going to the meadow," I interrupt.

"W-why not?" Jake asks.

"Something.....came up," I say, "I need to go away for a little while."

"I-Is it something I did?" Jake asks, "We can slow things down, I mean, I don't want to rush you or make you feel like you need more space I just-"

"It's not that," I say quickly, "Don't even _think _that."

"Then what is it?" he asks, "Meet me. We can talk about it and work things out."

"No!" I say, "I-I mean no. I'll explain things later. Right now I just have to get far, far away from Forks."

"Edward," he says, "Please don't go."

His plee tugs at my heart, "I'll explain everything later after I've had time to think," I say, "I have to go."

"Edward," the way he says my name about breaks my dead heart, "Please."

"I _will_ get back to you. I swear I will," I take a deep breath, "I'm going to be gone for a few days, but you can call me any time. I'll keep my phone on me, okay?"

"Alright," he sounds so sad and lost, I almost lose my resolve to go.

"Have Alice call me the day before Victoria comes, that way I can help fight, and I'll call you the minute I get somewhere."

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"I don't know yet," I answer, truthfully, "....Maybe Alaska......? Yes. I'm going to Alaska."

"Why Alaska?" he asks, his voice monotone.

"There's another coven of vegitarian vampires there," I let out a sigh, "I'm going to hang up now, but I'll call you as soon as I get there."

"The very minute," Jake says, "Even if it's 2 a.m."

"Alright," I agree readily.

"And you'll give me an explination?"

"I have to," I answer, "Bye Jake."

"Bye, Edward," he says, "I love you."

"I love you too," I echo before hanging up.

I knew that if I could, I'd be crying right now. _He sounded so sad._

_It's all Bella Swan's fault. _Hate swells up in me. _Maybe I could have the family kill her for me._

I immediatley shake the thought from my head. _What sort of monster would I be then, to have an innocent girl killed? How could I be worthy of Jacob then?_

_What do I do?_

* * *

**Jake's POV**

I let the phone fall back on the reciever.

"Who was it?" Dad asks from the other room.

"It's not important," I lie, feeling tears drip down my cheeks, "I'm going to be in my room for a while."

Not waiting for an answer, I up to my room, throwing myself on the bed.

_Did I do something wrong?_ I wonder, the tears falling harder now. _He said it wasn't anything I did, but when I wanted to meet up with it, he sounded almost scared. Why doesn't he want to be near me._

I quickly replaly the time we'd spent together.

_What did I do wrong? _I wonder. _I might've gone a little too fast, but he didn't seem to mind too much. At least, not until yesterday. _I bite at my lip. _Is that the problem? Did I push him just a little too far?_

I hold my pillow tight against my chest as I lay back, looking up at the cieling.

_Am I worried over nothing, or is he really running from me?_

I curl up into a little ball. _Please, please, God, don't let him be running from me._

I stay that way for the longest time, until eventually the edges of my vision turn black and I fall asleep.

* * *

Bring.

Bring.

Bring.

I look groggliy around.

Bring.

_The phone! _I remember, _Edward!_

I jump up quickly, accidently knocking the bedside table over.

"Hello?" I say picking up the phone.

"Hey, Jake," Comes Edward's voice on the other end.

"Edward," I say in relief, "J-just give me a minute to wake up all the way," I pinch my leg, the pain brings the world a little bit more into focus, "Why did you leave? Do you know how long before you come back yet?"

"I'll be back for the fight," he answers, "I wouldn't abandon you all when you're in danger."

"You didn't answer my first question," I complain.

I hear him sigh, "D-do you promise that you won't think less of me?"

"I promise," I whisper.

"There was a new girl at school yesterday, her name was Isabella Swan-"

"Chief Swan's daughter," I add.

"You know her?" he asks, his voice taking on a fearful tone.

"Yeah," I say, a faint smile crossing my face, "We played together when we were little. She'd always come over during the summer."

He is silent.

"What about Bella?" I prod.

"I-I don't know what it is," he begins, his voice shaky, "But....her blood is better than anything I've ever smelt before. She sat beside me in biology and......it took everything I had not to kill her. I can't be anywhere near her, Jake. If I smell her again I don't know what I'll do."

My mind suddenly goes fuzzy, "But you eat animals," I say stupidly.

"And I'm very well practiced at resisting," he says sadly, "But if I get withing five miles of her, I'm going to kill her."

"Why couldn't you tell me before?" I ask, "Why'd you have to go?"

"Well, I can't go back to school and I didn't- I _don't_ want to have to talk to my family about this."

"You could've came to me," I say, "We would've figured something out."

"You were on the Reservation," he says.

"But we were going to meet in the meadow!"

"All of my will power was used up, Jake. If-" his voice breaks, "If I'd seen you Jake, I might've- I might have-" he takes in a ragged breath, "I just couldn't meet you."

I try and say something, anything, but I feel like there's a lump in my throat.

"I scared you, didn't I?" he asks with a sob, "I disgust you."

"No!" I shout at him, "Don't even think that! You just....surprised me is all."

"You aren't disappointed in me?" he sounds like a small child.

"Never," I say. Then, "Are you safe to be around people now?"

"Yes, but Jake, I can't come back. What if I came across her again?"

"Well if you can't come here," I say slowly, "Then I'm going to go there with you."

* * *

**I don't know where I'm going with this.....but that's when I have the most fun. Okay, it's poll time.**

**1st: Should Bella be friends with BOTH Edward and Jake? Yes or no.**  
**2nd: Who should Bella hook up with? Mike, Random Pack Member (please not Leah), Tyler, or James?**

**Message To: the few of you left who are still hoping for Jake/Bella, or Edward/Bella  
****_For the last time, I'm never ever ever never ever in this story going to pair up Bella with Edward or Jake!_**


	19. Chapter Eighteen

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I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT

Chapter Eighteen

**Jake's POV**

I flick my light on and run around the room in search of a small bag. Finding one, I throw a change of clothing and some deodorant inside.

I dig around in my sock drawer and get out the last of the money I have left from my birthday, tossing that into the bag too.

_Should I wake Dad? _I wonder. _He'd probably want to say goodbye, but what if he tries to stop me?_

I settle for leaving a note explaining where I've gone.

_What about the pack? _I wonder. Then it hits me. _I was supposed to go with them and the Cullens to the strategic meeting! The packs going to be mad._

_Who cares, they can't be mad at me if I'm gone._

I run out the door shifting quickly and picking the bag up with my mouth, before running in the direction of Alaska and my Edward.

* * *

**Edward's POV**

I pace back and forth. _What am I going to do?!_

My confusion and my incapability to find a solution to this problem has been really scaring me. The only thing that's made me feel any better is knowing that Jake's coming up here with me.

_How fast can he run? _I wonder, _Will he get here soon? Tonight? Will he be able to help me figure out what to do?_

Worries eat away at me. It's times like these that I wish that I could sleep; that I could leave behind my worries and anxiety and rest.

I'm sitting in Denali out in the woods hiding from Tanya.

She still has a thing for me and can't take a hit and realize that I'm not interested. Another reason why the sooner Jake gets here, the better. I don't think she'd still try and win me over if she saw me with a guy.

_I hope Jake gets here soon._

* * *

It takes him four hours and fifty two minutes to get to Denali. It might seem a little.....crazy......to count the minutes, but I had nothing better to do.

The second I heard his mind, I rush off to meet him. Running my fastest, it takes well under a minute for me to reach him.

Jake is in his wolf form running in the direction of the Denali clan's house. I pounce, pulling him into a hug.

He lets out a yipping noise and twists around in my arms. _Oh! Edward! Don't do that; you scared me._

"Sorry," I say.

_You're forgiven,_ he says, resting his head up against my chest.

"I missed you," I tell him, petting his fur.

_I missed you too, _he says,_ I was so worried when you didn't tell me what was wrong or when you were coming back or..........You can NOT do that to me again, do you here me?_

"I won't," I promise, "I-I just didn't want to admit to you that my restraint wasn't as good as I thought."

_Is this always a problem for you?_ Jake asks.

"No. This is the first time I've run across anything like this. She smells so _good_."

_...........How hard was it for you to resist?_

I look at him for a moment, wondering how to voice my murderous desires without scaring him.

_I'll always love you,_ he says, _No matter what._

"Promise?" I ask.

_Yes. _

"I-I wanted to kill her. I wanted to kill her so bad, and I would've but....."

_But what? _He asks, his 'voice' shaking.

"But then I thought about you, and-"I let out a dry sob, "And what you'd think of me if my eyes glowed red and I was one of the monsters that you've had to kill," I bury my face in his fur.

_It doesn't matter if your eyes are yellow or black or red._

Suddenly my face is against his bare shoulder, Jake having switched back to human form.

"I'm proud of you for resisting, but I'll always care for you whether you make a mistake or not," he tilts my chin up so I'm looking at his eyes, "I _love _you. I'll love you for the rest of our long, long lives."

"It would've broken the treaty," I remind him, "Your pack would've killed me."

A rumble moves through his chest, and I realize that he's growling, "I'd have killed anyone that tried."

"If I'd killed an innocent girl, I might've deserved it. You shouldn't have to fight your family for me."

"....I doubt they would've killed you anyways."

"They wouldn't have killed me if I'd broken the treaty and killed a girl?" I asks sceptically.

"You don't understand," Jake says, "If they killed you, they might as well have killed me."

I feel my eyebrows pinch together, "How come?"

"Wolves...once we find our imprints, they're our lives. If they killed you, my....heart...would die. We've all heard the legends and the pain is supposed to be unbearable. They wouldn't do that to me. If you did something bad enough that they killed you, they'd be killing me too."

I bury my face back against his chest, and then I realize something, "Jake, you're naked."

"Yep," he says smiling, back to his old self.

"Put some clothes on!"

"Gah. You just had to go and ruin it for me," he says.

"Look, I want the message to go across to Tanya, but me sitting on your lap while you're naked is a little overboard."

"Who's Tanya?" He asks.

"A vampire up here," I explain, "She's always made her interest on me very....apparently, but now that I've got you I'm sure she'll back off."

Jake growls and pulls me closer to him, "You're _mine_."

I chuckle, "A little overprotective, aren't you."

He looks down at me and sighs, "I'm a wolf. We're territorial. What did you expect?"

I kiss his cheek, "Don't worry. I'm sure being with you'll stop her."

"Okay," he nods, kissing me back.

"Seriously though, put some clothes on."

* * *

**Okay, you guys should know that I don't hate Bella. I am still never ever never going to pair her with Jake or Edward in this story, but I'm not going to make her a snoody bitch who gets stuck with a horrible even more obnoxious version of Mike. Sorry. At least five different people have reviewed or PMed me about that.**


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Nineteen

**Jake's POV**

It's hard for me to keep the smile off of my face as we walk up into the house. I want to teach this vamp that Edward is _mine_.

Calling him mine...it's not that I think of him as a possession. He's a person, I love him, and he is _mine._

The plan is a very simply one, we'll walk in, Edward will introduce me, and he'll stick to me like glue.

He wants to be subtle, so we aren't going to say anything unless Tanya doesn't take the hint. The only fun I get to have is if she _still_ doesn't get it. Then Edward's given me free reign over the situation.

Edward latches himself on to my side before knocking on the door.

"Hello?" The door opens. Standing there is a strawberry blond with a television remote in her hands. Tall and lithe, she stands only an inch or two shorter than Edward.

"Hello, Tanya," Edward says, pressing even closer to my side, "This is Jake. Will it be a problem if he stays here with me?"

She gapes at me for a moment before looking back at Edward.

"I-"

"He knows about us," Edward interrupts, "He's a werewolf."

"I see," she says, glaring at our intertwined hands, "I don't suppose there's a problem then," She wrinkles her nose, "But, can't you spray him with air freshener or something?"

Edward's lips curl back as he bares his teeth at her, "Don't insult him!"

"It's fine Edward," I say, squeezing his hand gently, "Let's just get inside."

She scowls as she leads me and Edward to the living room. She is, eh.....nicely proportioned to put it mildly.

_She's going after Edward?_ I feel sadness swell within me. _How on earth can I compete with _her_? She's a girl, she's pretty, interested in him, and his own species. I don't have a chance with him._

Suddenly my side hurts. I look down and see Edward, his hand knotted into a fist, "Don't even _think_ things like that! Don't you know me at all!?"

I look up at Tanya who seems in a much better mood now that Edward's throwing punches at me.

_It's just....look at her, and then look at me._

Edward shakes his head, "There's no competition."

I nod uncertainly.

"What's going on?" Tanya asks hopefully.

"We're having a private conversation," Edward says, pressing himself to my side again.

"Oh," she says, anger returning to her features, "I see."

We enter the living room and she spreads her arms, "Have a seat," I feel as if her glare will burn a hole through me.

"So," she says, directing her question at Edward, "How did you meet your....friend?"

"I'd say we're closer than friends," he says, moving even closer to me.

_Any closer and he'll be sitting on my lap._ I feel my lips curl up at the idea. Edward slaps at me playfully.

"It's rude to have private conversations when someone else is present," Tanya growls.

"Of course," Edward says, "I'm sorry. Where is the rest of the clan? I wanted them to meet Jake."

"Why do you want them to meet _him_?"

_She isn't going to give up,_ I say to Edward. _Screw subtlety. Can't we just tell her and get it over with?_

He hesitates for a moment before giving a very slight nod.

"He wants your clan to meet his new beau," I answer, curling my arm around Edward.

"Beau?" Edward laughs, giving me a kiss, "I can see _me_saying that, but weren't you born in the last forty years?"

The remote in her hands snaps cleanly in half, "It's so _wonderful_. I'm so _happy_ for you Edward," she practically hisses it.

"So," Edward says, shifting uncomfortably, "When is the rest of the clan coming back?"

"Don't worry," she says, "They'll be back in an hour or so. You can introduce them to your _dog_ then."

That one got under my skin a little.

"He's not my _dog_," Edward jumps in.

"Definitely yours though," I say, making sure Tanya has a good view as I place a kiss on his lips.

"I've got to go....uh...... oven," Tanya says, rushing out of the room.

"Vampires don't even cook," I mutter.

"Not true," Edward says, laying his head against my chest, "Some vampires can cook. Just not Tanya; she's outside right now fuming and trying to figure out how to 'win me over'."

"I'm glad she's mad," I say.

Edward looks up at me, surprised, "Don't be mean."

"She called me a dog," I pout.

"Well that wasn't nice of her," he says, "But that doesn't mean you have to stoop to her level."

I let out a sigh, "_Fine_."

"Thank you, Jake," he says, picking up my arms and encircling them around himself.

_All that's left is to lay here and wait for that bitch to come back._

I feel myself get slapped over the head.

"If you can't think anything nice, don't think anything at all."

_You're gonna have to keep out of my head._

* * *

**I would keep going, but I have to go to school. Sorry. **

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	21. Chapter Twenty

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Twenty

**Jake's POV**

For the next hour, while we wait for the rest of Tanya's clan to come back, Tanya practically throws herself at Edward.

He keeps himself wedged under my arm and does his best to say as little as possible without coming across as rude.

And so I'm grateful when I hear the rest of the coven show up. _I'm _glad that more _vampires_ arrived. That alone should tell you how uncomfortable Tanya throwing herself at Edward was making me.

The door opens and four of them walk through. There is a beautiful blond woman. _Great. Another gorgeous blond vampire. _A woman with silver chin-length hair, and a raven-haired woman leaning up against a tall Hispanic man.

"What's that smell?" the dark haired woman asks, sniffing the air.

I shift uncomfortably in my seat. _Okay, so maybe this isn't much better._ "Sorry."

At once all four of their heads snap over to look at me.

"What is going on here?" The one with silver hair asks, "Who is he?"

"Jake," Edward says, "This is the Denali coven. Irina," he says pointing at the vamp with silver hair, "Kate," the blond woman, "Carmen," the woman closest to the man, "And Eleazar." He smiles at me before turning to look at them, "And this is Jake. He's a werewolf."

"They're together," Tanya says, gritting her teeth, "Isn't that _wonderful_."

Kate jumps over the back of the couch and sits beside Edward and I, "A werewolf!? That's so cool. I want to know everything about you," then her nose wrinkles up, "Yuck," she moves over to one of the chairs, "I want to know everything from over here."

"Irina, can you open up the windows?" Carmen asks. She looks at me apologetically, "I don't mean to be rude or anything."

"It's fine," I say, "I'd actually appreciate it; vampires don't smell any better to me than I do to you."

"It's alright if he stays here with me for a few days, right?" Edward asks.

"It's fine with me!" Kate pipes in quickly.

"And me," Irina says.

Tanya puts on a pouting face, "I'm alright with it."

Eleazar looks at me oddly, but hesitantly nods.

"Welcome to our home, Jacob," Carmen says warmly. She almost reminds me of Esme.....

"Can I see your wolf form?!" Kate asks excitedly.

"My family told them about wolf packs awhile back," Edward whispers into my ear, "Kate was.....well.....like she is now, but we didn't have many answers for her. I'm guessing she'll have questions for you nearly the whole time we're here."

"Please, please, please?" Kate begs.

I look over at Edward. He nods, "You go ahead. I'm going to stay here and talk with them a little bit."

"M'k," I place a kiss lightly on his cheek before following the bouncing vampire out into the yard.

The smell is so much better out in the yard. It's still terrible, but now I don't feel like I'm going to throw up any second. It continues to amaze me that Edward smells so good when the rest of his lot smell so.....repulsive.

"I want to know everything about your um.....species," Kate says.

I scratch the back of my head, "It's not really my 'species'. I'm human. I'm just......an odd human."

She sits down in the grass, so I take a seat next to her.

"How many of you are there?"

I hesitate. "I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you that."

"Allowed?" she asks, giving me a funny look.

"See, wolves have a pack leader," I pause slightly embarrassed, "We all have to do as he says and......he doesn't even like the Cullens knowing so much about us. He knows that they have to know because of Edward, but......" I pause again, "And I wouldn't want to put up with him if he found out I told vampires _other_than the Cullens about us."

"He doesn't like vampires then?" Kate asks.

"We're naturally enemies with red-eyed vampires. We didn't know much about you 'vegitarians' until I was with Edward; the Cullens kept to their land and we kept to ours."

She looks puzzled for a moment, "Then how did you fall in love with Edward?"

"Imprinting," She opens her mouth, but I cut off her questions, continuing my explanation, "I can only explain it as love at first sight. When a wolf sees _the one_. We just know. All I had to do is see Edward, and I knew that he should be mine and I should be his."

"Well what did your pack leader do?" She asks.

"There wasn't much he _could _do. The only time a wolf doesn't have to obey the Alfa is when it involves our imprints," I smile, "But he _was_ really good about it. He helped me out with my uncertainties."

"Any other cool things about werewolves?" she asks

"Um......" Hmmm......w_hat are _cool_ things about being one of us_, "Werewolves only age if we want to."

"That's good," Kate says, "That's essential if you're going to be with a vampire."

I nod, "Any more questions?"

"Can I see your wolf form?"

"I suppose," I say. She smiles widely at me.

"I'll be right back," I say, heading off into the woods.

"Where are you going?" She calls.

"I'll be right back," I start stripping down, throwing my clothes in a pile underneath a tree. My world trembles as I fall down onto four paws.

I trot back out of the trees and over to Kate. She gasps, looking at me with wide eyes, "You're huge."

I nod at her.

"In fact, you're so big that......" she lets her sentence trail off.

Standing up, she moves closer to me.

I don't like the gleam in her eyes.

* * *

**Edward's POV**

Jake kisses me on the cheek, before following Kate out into the yard. _I_ _hope she doesn't torture him too badly. _

"So Edward," Carmen says with a smile, "How long has _that_ been going on?"

"Me and Jake?" I ask, "Not long."

"The first time you talked about these beings you made it seem like you hated them," Tanya says.

I shrug, "So. I wasn't a big fan of Jake's great-grandpa. They didn't like or trust us which gave us reason not to like or trust them."

"Are you sure that prejudices are behind them? Are you sure it's not a trick?" Eleazar asks.

"It's not," I tap at my skull reminding them of my abilities, "I'm sure."

Eleazar nods, but then Tanya starts up, "How can you be sure?" she asks, "He could be hiding things if he looked after his thoughts carefully enough. You should break up with him just to be on the safe side."

Carmen glares at her, "Stop it Tanya," she looks back at me, "We're all very happy for you Edward."

"Thank you, Carmen," I say, purposely avoiding Tanya's gaze.

"I'm curious," Irina says, "How did you and Jake get started?"

"Alice had a vision that some dangerous vampires were coming into town," I say, cutting the story to make it shorter, "We needed some help so we went to talk to the wolves about a short term alliance. When wolves see their soul mates, they know it; they can sense it and suddenly they're bound to the person."

"And Jake got bound to you?" Irina asks.

"Yes."

"What I want to know is if you were in trouble why you didn't come and talk to us," Carmen grumbles.

I feel my eyebrows crinkle together, "I'd forgotten. You were supposed to be out of town."

"Oh," Carmen says, nodding as if that makes sense, "We _were_ out of town. We only got back a couple days ago. I just thought Alice would've seen us coming back too."

"She's been busy watching for the dangerous coven."

"If it's so dangerous then why aren't you there to help?" Irina asks.

"I-I had to go. I'll go back for the fight, but I had to be gone."

"Why?" Irina asks stubbornly.

"I'm going to go see what Jake's doing," I say, standing up abruptly.

I run out of the room and to their yard quickly so they can't ask me anymore questions.

I feel a laugh bubble my way up to my throat as I see Kate. Kate is sitting on Jake's back as he's in wolf form her hands clutching at his fur tightly, Jake is spinning around in circles.

_Edward! _he cries silently, _Get her _off_!_

I can't hold in my laugh as I save him from the slightly crazed werewolf fan.

* * *

***Sighs* I've got to go get ready for school so I can't write anymore.**

**Um.....I need a beta. If anyone is interested could you please PM me? I thought I'd ask for a beta from people who already read this story before I browsed for one.**


	22. Chapter Twenty One

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT OR 'I'm Yours' BY JASON MRAZ**

Chapter Twenty One

**JAKE'S POV**

I lie in the grass outside of the Denali Clan's house, with Edward held tightly in my arms.

Kate is sitting close to us drilling me with questions like she has been since Edward forced her to get off of me.

"Can you change rapidly? Or is there a certain amount of time you have to wait before you can shift again?" Kate asks me.

"We can change as often as we want," I answer.

"Earlier you talked about how you heal more quickly then other humans, how does-"

_"But I won't hes-i-tate no more, no more, this can not wait I'm y-o-urs"_

I look over at Edward. _Did he just randomly start singing?! _I wonder.

"Cell phone," he explains, rolling his eyes. He pulls it out of his pocket, "Hello?"

A hyperactive buzzing comes from the phone.

"Alice, Alice, slow down," Edward says.

The voice on the phone is still too fast for me to understand, but now I can at least tell that they are words.

"It's fine Alice. We're fine," He presses the side of his face against my arm, "Things are good up here," he pauses while Alice talks, "But what about-?" Alice cuts him off and he listens to her for a moment, "But where would I-?" More impossibly fast words from the other line, "You're sure?" Whatever Alice says next, she sounds irritated, "I don't doubt you. We'll be back shortly."

Edward sits up to put the phone in his pocket and then lies back down in the crook of my arm, his face turned up to mine.

"What was that all about?" I ask.

"Alice. She says we need to get back quickly."

"Are our families under attack?!" I ask, panicking. _Why's he just sitting here?!_

"No," He says, quickly, "Not yet. Alice says their plans keep on changing. She can't get a focus on when they're going to attack."

"How is going back going to work for you?" I ask, "If you can't be near Bella?"

"Alice says chances are very good that Sam will let me stay in La Push."

"Sam's just going to let you stay with me and Billy?" I ask, surprised.

He pulls his gaze from mine, "Only when we explain about Bella's blood and how it..." He trails off, eyes locked firmly on the ground.

I turn and look at Kate, "You're going to have to go now," I mouth at her. As soon as she vanished from my sight, I tilt Edward's face up to mine, "Look at me." His eyes dart up to meet mine before looking back down at the ground.

"Look at me," I repeat. He reluctantly turns his face up to mine again, "You can't get all sad and moody every time Bella gets mentioned."

"But...but I'm supposed to be able to resist this kind of thing. I thought I'd had my-my bloodlust under control. But..."

"You did very well with the whole Bella-Situation," I assure him, "You didn't...uh, you know...She survived."

"That's something," He agrees, nodding while a sad smile appears on his face, "But how am I supposed to go to your pack, your family, and tell them that I wanted to kill a girl. Even setting aside the fact that they _kill_ vampires that hurt humans, how can I tell them that?"

"It'll work out," I say, pulling him tighter against me, "Everything will be fine, you'll see."

He nods uncertainly, "That's what Alice said."

I smile at him, "See, it _will_ be okay. How soon are we leaving?"

"Immediately. Victoria could decide to attack abruptly."

I look back at the Denali House, "Are we going to say goodbye first?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "They'll want an explanation. Why don't you just go in and tell Kate that we're leaving; she can tell the others for us."

I look back where Kate disappeared at. Her scent seems to go off into the trees instead of to the house, "I'll be right back," I say. I gently pull myself away from Edward and run off in the direction of Kate.

It doesn't take me long to find her. She's sitting in the grass looking up at the sky. A faint breeze stirs the air. "Jake?" she says, turning around.

"Yeah."

"Are you done now?" she asks, "Can I come back out?"

"Um, actually I came to say goodbye," I say, "Edward and I are leaving."

"So soon?" She pouts, "But I didn't get to ask you half the questions that I wanted to."

"How many more questions could you possibly have?" I ask in shock, then without giving her a chance to respond, "Never mind. But could you tell the rest of your coven that we're leaving?"

"Don't you guys want us to come with you?" She asks, "We could help in the fight."

I shake my head, "The way it is now, we should be able to win the fight pretty easily. If the situation changes, I'm sure we'll be calling you guys to ask for help, but right now help isn't needed."

"Oh," She says, looking slightly crestfallen, "Okay."

"'Bye Kate," I say, throwing a smile at her before turning to go.

"Bye," She echoes.

* * *

**Well a big thank you goes out to mewmewgodess for agreeing to be my beta. Thanks to her there shouldn't be too many more spelling or grammer mistakes in the story anymore.**


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Twenty Two

Edward's POV

I tap my foot nervously as I wait at the border for Jake's pack to show up.

"It'll be okay," Jake says, pulling me closely to him.

"I sure hope you're right," I murmur, burying my face against his chest.

I lie there in Jake's arms for a while while he twists my hair around in his fingers and places occasional kisses on the top of my head.

_I'm gonna kill that kid,_ I hear Sam's 'voice' grumble to himself as he speeds his way in our direction, _just leaving like that without telling us where he was going._

_I'm sure he had a good reason, _Embry says, defending Jake.

_It'd __better__ be a good one, _Sam replies.

"They're almost here," I tell Jake.

He sighs and gets up, pulling me to my feet with him, "How much longer?"

As if in answer, Sam and the rest of the pack slide into the clearing.

"We all need to talk," Jake informs them, "You need to shift to human form."

With something akin to a sigh, Sam exits the clearing, the rest of the pack following his lead. It only takes a few moments before they're back and human.

Sam has a scowl on his face, "What's the meaning of this, Jake?" he asks, "You and Edward disappeared without a trace, and the vampires wouldn't tell us what was going on! I'm _sure_ they knew, but they wouldn't tell us. And your Dad! He knew too, but he wouldn't tell us either."

"Well...you see, Edward had a problem and he had to go away, and I wanted to go with him," Jake says, biting at his lip.

"What kind of problem?" Sam asks.

I bury my face against Jake's shoulder, unwilling to see the packs reaction.

"It's Bella Swan," Jake begins, "I-it's something about her blood. She smells really, really good to Edward and he can't be around her..." Jake trails off, unsure of what to say next.

"She wasn't injured, right?" Sam asks, fear tightening his voice.

"Of course not," I say, pulling my face away from Jake and turning to look at the pack, "I wouldn't let myself. Ever."

"If the girl wasn't harmed, then what's the problem?" Sam asks.

"It's very hard for him to resist," Jake says, speaking up for me again, "If he crosses her path again, he-he might not be as strong as last time."

Shame burns through me and I lower my head.

"That's why he left," Jake continues, "He had to get away from Forks so he wouldn't run into Bella again."

"Why's he back now?" Sam asks, his eyebrows pinching together.

"Because of the vampire attack," I answer.

"What about Bella?"

I try and answer, but I can't; there's a lump in my throat.

"Can he stay here?" Jake asks, "With us?"

Sam shakes his head, "Jake, I'm not gonna let you keep a vampire in La Push."

"B-but what if he kills her?" Jake asks, his voice cracking.

"Jake," Sam says, a pained expression on his face.

"I'll be fine," I murmur to Jake, "I-I'll have to leave for a bit, but I won't be too far away. Only a half hour or so away."

"I'm coming with," Jake says, cupping my face in his hands, "If you're leaving, I'm coming with."

"You should be here with your family," I tell him with a sad smile, "You belong here."

"I don't want you to leave," Jake mumbles as tears begin to swell in his eyes.

"I won't be that far away," I promise, "Just a few towns away."

He sighs, "I know. It's just hard for wolves to be any distance from their imprints."

"You'll be fine," I insist.

Sam gives a sort of a groan, "He can stay in La Push."

I blink in surprise, jerking my head in his direction. The pack members are also looking at Sam with varying degrees of shock.

"You're going to let _a blood-sucking monster_ into La Push?!" Leah shrieks.

I can almost feel my eyes turning black and I step forward with a growl.

"Edward!" Jake scolds at the same time Sam says, "Leah!"

I look down at my feet, "Sorry Jake, I'll try and be nicer."

"I'm not sorry," Leah says, her voice snotty, "He's our _enemy_ and you're just going to invite him over?!"

"He's Jake's imprint," Embry says, "He's no more our enemy then Jake is."

"It's completely different!" Leah says, her voice raising to a shriek again, "He's a _vampire!_"

"And Jake's a wolf, but the Cullens welcomed him in with open arms," Embry shoots back, "It's not like Sam's saying we have to treat Edward like family," _Even though he _is _now, _his thoughts interject, "Sam's just saying that we're going to help out Jake's imprint in his time of need."

Leah growls unimpressively, but she doesn't seem to have anything to say to that.

"And it's only for a while," Sam says, "As soon as a better solution is found, you'll have to leave."

I give a slight nod, "Of course."

I look back at Jake, he's wearing my favorite too-big-for-his-face smile, "You get to stay with me!" He says.

"Have you talked to your dad yet?" I ask.

His grin slides a little, "Well...not exactly, but I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

I hold out my phone to him, "Do you want to call him?"

Jake takes the phone, looking at it warily, "I don't want to have to go through that whole thing again."

"Then don't," I say simply, "All you need to tell him is I want to stay with you and I have Sam's permission to be here."

Jake nods, punching the numbers into the phone.

"Hello?" Billy's voice asks from the other end of the phone.

"Hi, Dad," Jake says.

"Hey, there Jake," Billy says, a smile in his voice, "You're back from Alaska then?"

"Yeah," Jake answers. I frown at him. _How much did he tell his dad?_

"So are ya gonna tell my why you had to go to Alaska with your imprint?" Billy asks.

"I-I...later, Dad. Okay?" Jake asks.

"'kay," Billy agrees, "Are ya gonna be home soon then?"

"Yeah but...Um, can Edward stay with us for a while?" Jake asks.

"What?" Billy asks, "How come?"

"He needs a place to go, Dad," Jake says, "Please? Pleeeeaaase?"

"You'd have ta get Sam's permission," Billy says.

"I've already got Sam's permission," Jake tells him.

"I...guess tha's okay then," Billy says, "Ya gonna tell me his reasons for comin' to stay with us?"

"Later," Jake sighs.

"When's he gonna be comin'?" He asks.

"Right away?" Jake makes it a question.

"Sure, sure," His dad says, "Are ya on your way over then?"

"Yeah, we'll be home soon," He answers.

"Alright, Jake," Billy says, "See ya soon. Luv ya."

"Love you, too," Jake says, hanging up the phone and handing it back to me.

"See," he says, "I told you everything would work out."

"You did," I say, with a smile, "Everything _did_ work out."

He smiles his wide smile at me, before leaning over and planting a kiss on my lips. He pulls back and sighs contentedly, "I can't believe you're going to stay at my house with me."


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Twenty Three

**EDWARD'S POV**

Jake and I arrive at Jake's house not to long after our meeting with Sam and the pack; it was a short run back to my Volvo, and I drive quickly.

Jake opens the door, and I see Billy inside sticking his head out of the kitchen door. _''Bout time they got here',_ he thinks, wheeling himself to the door to greet us.

"Hello, Billy," I say, trying to sound respectful.

"'Ello," he answers, "Would you an' Jake mind talkin' to me for a bit? I'd like us to discuss how long you're gunna be stayin' here and why you're staying here an' things like that."

"Dad," Jake cuts in, saving me from answering, "We _just_ had to put up with this kind of thing from Sam. Can't it wait until later?"

Billy frowns, "A couple hours," he allows, "But I'm wantin' to know before I go to sleep tonight."

"We'll come and talk with you before we go to sleep," I promise.

"Good," he says, "I guess you can go up to Jake's room then," he hesitates for a moment. '_Should I leave 'em alone in Jake's room?'_, "But you guys'd better not do anything you shouldn't be doin'. Got it?"

Jake's cheeks turn a shade darker, "We won't," he looks back at me. '_You won't _let_ me,'_ he thinks at me.

"Nope," I say smiling at him.

"Come on," Jake says, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards a stair case, "My room's upstairs."

"Just because I can't go up there doesn't mean I won't know if you do somethin' you shouldn't!" Billy calls.

Jake picks up his pace, putting his hand on my lower back and pulling me with him, "I'm sorry Dad's being so embarrassing."

"It's okay," I say, "I think it's nice that your dad cares about you to worry like that."

"Sure, sure," he says, "But it gets annoying in situations like this."

I raise an eyebrow at him, "You bring boyfriends over often?"

He scoffs, "Not situations _exactly_ like this. I meant it's annoying when he's worrying about something that I want so badly. But then," he shoves me playfully, "Even if Dad had nothing against us messing around up here, you wouldn't go along with it would you?"

"No," I say shaking my head, "We've already talked about this Jake. I-I've had a hard enough time with control lately, I don't need anything that would lead to an accident with you."

Jake lets out a sigh, "I can wait." We've arrived at a door which I assume leads to his room. "After you," Jake says, holding the door open for me.

I step inside and look around. The walls are a dark earthy color and the bed a sort of silvery grey. A television is propped up in the corner and little bits of trash and articles of dirty clothing litter the floor underneath a pile of junk is something that...Is it a beanbag chair?

"Um..." Jake begins, "I would've cleaned it if I'd known you were going to be here."

He bends down and scoops up an armful of miscellaneous junk. "It's fine, Jake," I say, putting my hands on his arms. I look around his room, "It sort of gives it a homey feel."

"Uh, okay," Jake says, dropping the trash in a pile at his feet.

I smile at him before walking over to his bed and lying down, "Come lie next to me," I say patting the spot beside me. He gives a wide smile, so I quickly add, "_Just_ talking."

Jake's smile fades away at that, but he climbs up beside me anyways, "You're such a spoil sport," he says, pressing his lips against mine, "But you're a wonderful kisser, so I forgive you."

* * *

Jake falls asleep. I let him stay asleep, me wrapped tightly in one of his arms until about ten o'clock, but then I remember Billy waiting for us downstairs. I look at Jake's face. He looks so young in his sleep. So carefree. '_I'll just let him get his rest.'_

I slip out from under his arm and creep quietly out of the room.

Billy is downstairs in the living room watching television. Somehow he manages to hear my quiet steps down the stairs and turns around, "Hey Edward."

"Hello, Billy," I say, "I-I came down to talk like you asked."

"Well, where's Jake?" he asks.

"He's sleeping," I answer, a smile tugging at my lips as I remember how Jake looks when he's dreaming.

"Oh," Billy says, "Okay...First off I wanna know how long you're gunna be staying here."

"Until the vampire attack," I answer, "After that Sam's making me leave."

"And why are ya here?" he asks.

"I-I was having some problems with...Control," I say quietly.

His eyes grow wide, "Y-You...And Sam let you stay here?!"

"It's not like that," I say quickly, "I haven't hurt anybody," I take in a deep breath, "See, for vampires, all humans smell different, and some of them are harder to resist than others. There's a new girl at school and I-" I shake my head, "I _can't _be around her."

"I see," Billy says, giving me a funny look, "An' how does Jake smell to you?"

I start choking at the absurdity of it. '_As if I'd ever hurt Jake',_ "Your son is safe," I assure him.

He nods, "A-Alright then...Um," '_What else did I want to say?',_ he wonders, '_Oh yeah!' _"I don't mind you bein' up in his room like you were, but I don't want ya to be sleepin' in the same bed, got it?"

"I don't sleep," I inform him, "But I'll keep out of his bed," Embarrassment swells within me. '_Oh thank God I can't blush.'_

"Good," He says with a nod, "I think tha's it then. G'night."

"Goodnight," I echo, running up the stairs and back to Jake's room.**  
**

**JAKE'S POV**

I blink my eyes drowsily and curl my arm up to give Edward a kiss. But Edward's not there. I look around sleepily and find him sitting in a beanbag chair on the floor. "What are you doing down there?" I ask.

"Billy said he didn't want us sleeping in the same bed," Edward explains.

"Well I'm not sleeping anymore. Get back up here." Edward climbs up into bed beside me. "What do you want to do today?" I ask him.

He hesitates for a moment, "I don't care, Jake. Whatever you want to do is fine."

I bite at my lip for a moment, thinking, "Well you haven't been down to La Push before, right?"

"Nope," he answers, "The treaty kept me out."

"Do you want to see the sights then?" I ask, "We could go down to the beach."

He smiles up at me, "Sure," he says.

* * *

**Eh. . . not a very exciting end for a chapter, but whatever. **

**Please Review.**


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Twenty Four

**JAKE'S POV**

I say goodbye to Dad before dragging Edward out the door. I'm looking forward to showing him around La Push.

The first stop I've got planned is to go and get Quil and Embry. Out of the pack, they seem to be the most likely to befriend Edward.

We take Edward's Volvo. He lets me drive which I find very sweet given how protective he usually is of his car.

I wish I'd been able to make a surprise out of the trip. _He would've picked it out of my mind anyways_, I realize. And then I sigh, "I'm not going to be able to ever surprise you, am I?"

Edward smiles, "Probably not."

I shoot him a semi-teasing glare, "No need to be so happy about that."

"Eyes on the road," he orders. Then, "Yes, that's a good reason to be happy; I like knowing everything that's going on a whole lot more than I like being surprised."

I stick my tongue out childishly, "That's so boring."

"Don't worry," he tells me, "I'll still be able to surprise _you_."

I sigh, "Thanks, but that's just not the same."

"If it makes you feel any better, you _might_ be able to be able to block me with time. Alice can manage it," he doesn't seem too happy as he says that.

"How does she do it?" I ask.

"She does anything from singing songs to herself to translating favorite books to Latin."

"Hmmm………" _No way I can speak Latin, but I can manage to sing songs to myself_, "I'll have to work on that."

"I like hearing your thoughts," Edward complains as I pull up in front of Embry's house.

"Well than you're lucky I can't manage to block you out," I place a kiss on Edward's cheek, "Come on."

I get out of the car, Edward trailing along behind me.

I go straight to the shed. Embry shares my passion for fixing up cars that don't work anymore.

"Hey Embry," I call out as I enter.

"Hey Jake," I get back in reply. I spy a pair of legs sticking out from under a rusted out truck.

"Hi Jake," Quil says.

_Nice and convenient_, I think, _both of them here at the same time,_ "I was wanting to show Edward around La Push, and I was wondering if you guys wanted to come with us."

"Sure Jake," Embry says, his voice muffled by the truck, "Just let me finish………"

"Alright," I say, pulling a stool up next to Quil. I look back at Edward, "Um, that is okay with you, right?"

"Of course," Edward says, following my lead and pulling up a stool.

"So do you know all what you want to show him?" Quil asks.

"Well to the beach for sure, and then just around the town. Maybe introduce him to a few people our school," I break off, "Edward? Are you going to transfer to school here on the Rez?"

He looks surprised at that, "I didn't even think of that. I suppose I have to for appearance's sake."

"Awesome!" I say, feeling a grin stretch across my face.

He makes a face at me, "But that doesn't mean I want to make friends; I'm usually very solitary."

"Trust me," I persist, "I'll introduce you to some really nice people. You'll like them."

He's still frowning, but he nods at me, "I suppose I'll give it a try."

"Thanks Edward," I say planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Jake!" Quil complains.

I shoot a glare at him, "It was only the cheek."

"Still," he says, shoving my shoulder playfully.

"Quit it," Embry says, "No fighting near my truck."

"Yes, Mother," Quil says, pointedly taking his seat again.

Embry mutters something unintelligible under his breath although it sounds as if it has something to do with 'annoying rotten idiotic friends'.

"You aren't bored are you?" I ask, turning to face Edward.

The corners of his mouth are twitching as if he is fighting back laughter, "On the contrary, I'm far from bored. You're friends are very.....entertaining."

"I'm glad you think so," I say.

"Hurry up," Quil tells Embry, "I wanna get going."

"Why are you in such a rush?" he snaps, "It's not like you weren't fine sitting down here just a minute ago."

"They bicker a lot," I say in response to Edwards raised eyebrow, "They're like an old married couple, really."

"I resent that," Embry says, climbing out from underneath the truck, "I don't think I've ever really introduced myself in this form," Embry says to Edward, "I'm Embry."

"I know," he says, "And I know you know I'm Edward, but I guess part of the introduction would be ruined if I didn't say my name so: I'm Edward."

"That's right," Embry says, "You can read minds. That's how you know me from Quil."

"Yeah," Edward says, smiling his crooked smile.

"Are we gonna get going then?" I ask.

"Who's car are we taking?" Quil asks.

"Well......" I say, "Edward's Volvo is nice and roomy," I turn to face him, "Is that okay?"

He shrugs, "I guess."

"Sweeeeet!" Embry says, "Can I drive?"

"No," Edward says flatly, "Sorry, but I'm _very _protective of my car."

"I understand," he says, deflated.

"Let's go then."

* * *

We drive around town a little bit before eventually heading to the beach. We find a secluded place to park and just walk around a little bit.

After five or ten minutes, Edward points, "Someone's lit a fire over there."

I turn and look to where he's poinging. There seems to be a large gathering of people hanging out around a driftwood fire.

"Wanna go check it out?" Embry asks.

"You know it!" Quil says, "I'll beat you there!" he says, running off as Embry chases after him.

I roll my eyes at their antics and take Edward's hand, "We should go make sure they don't harm themselves or anyone else."

"Yeah," Edward says, giving an exadurated sigh before following me.

There aren't too many people; just five or six.

"Hey," Embry says to them in greeting.

"Hey," one of the girls says back in a sort of flirtacious way.

"What're you all doing?" Embry asks.

"Just hanging out," the girl says.

"Well I'm Embry," he says, "This is Quil, Jake and Edward."

"I'm Jasmine, this is Danny, Erick, Tyler, Becky, and Steve," she says, pointing at each person as she says their name, "There are some more of us who went to go check out tide pools a while ago, but I don't remember all of their names."

"That's cool," he says, then he turns back to look at us, "Do we want to hang out here for a while guys?"

Quil has already slid into the group and is talking animatedly to the guys. I shrug, and Edward gives a quiet "Sure" so I take a seat on a log by the fire. Edward takes a seat down beside me.

"Driftwood fires are so pretty," he says, "I love the blue."

We sit together quietly for a few minutes watching the fire crackle. It's calm and peaceful for a while, but then the people around us start getting loud.

"They're back from the tide pools!" One of them, Tyler?, says suddenly.

And then everyone is calling out greetings to their returning friends.

I let out a sigh, "Should we introduce ourselves to the rest of the people?" I ask, turning back to Edward.

Edwards eyes are black. Pitch black.

I follow his gaze, and what I see makes my blood run cold.

Edward's eyes are locked on Bella Swan.


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

**I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT**

Chapter Twenty Five

**EDWARD'S POV**

I bite back a groan as I stare at her. The ocean breeze wafts her scent around, impossible to ignore.

_Can't eat her, can't eat her,_ I chant, hoping to convince myself, _Can't eat her. What would Jake think?_

But Jake said he'd love me even if I did slip up and my eyes glowed red. _Why'd he tell me that?_ A quiet groan escapes my lips, knowing there wouldn't be such a harsh consequence makes it hard to resist.

But he'd definitely be upset. And killing someone in front of him would be sure to traumatize him.

_But God, her smell………_

"Geez, you look like you're going to throw up," Jake says, tugging at my arm, "We should get you home."

He tugs us quickly away from the beach. Quil and Embry murmur their own excuses in order to follow us, "Are you okay?" Jake asks quietly, his eyes boring into mine.

I don't dare take in air to answer. I just give a sort of shrug and continue walking away from her scent.

"Edward," Jake says, "Please talk to me," his eyes plead.

With a groan I pull him towards me, I push my nose against his chest and breath in his scent, "I can't really talk," I say, "I have to hold my breath. I-I _can't_ catch her scent again."

"Is that why you breathed in my scent like that?" he asks, "So you wouldn't smell her?"

I take in another deep Jake-smelling breath, "Yes. When I'm that close to you, you're all I can smell."

We turn a bend and the fire's no longer in sight, "Is this far enough yet?" Jake asks.

I cautiously take a few steps away from Jake and breathe in the air. Bella. I groan aloud. I want to go back so, so bad. She smells so good!

Before I can take a step, Quil and Embry each hook their arms under my shoulders and drag me toward Jake. I moan, "She smells so good. Let me go back. She's just one girl. I can lure her away. I don't have to hurt the others," the pair don't say a word, they just shove me back at Jake. I breathe in his scent again and my mind clears.

"I need to get away from here," I say, "Before I go back. I'll meet you at your house, alright?" I kiss Jake's cheek and, without waiting for an answer, run back to his house. I don't take in another breath until I'm safely inside, the door closed behind me.

"Who's there?" Billy asks.

"Me," I call.

"Where's Jake at?" he asks.

"He-uh……I left him near the beach, but he should be here soon."

"Is somethin' the matter?" He asks, rolling himself into the room.

"I-" I trail off with a sigh, "Remember how I came here to avoid a girl at school? She was down at the beach today and I- I had to leave as fast as I can."

"Who is this girl?" he asks, "Wha's her name?"

"Bella," I say with a sigh, "Bella Swan."

Billy's eyes widen "Chief Swan's daughter?! You've been wanting ta kill Charlie's daughter?!"

"I'm doing my best not to," I say, surprised by his strong reaction, "That's why I left Forks!"

"Your best!? What'll that do ta Charlie if ya kill his daughter!?"

"Is Charlie your friend then?" I ask.

Bill nods.

"Well I've tried not to hurt her. I promise! I've been trying. That was the whole point of coming here to La Push."

His eyes are still wide when I hear the soft sounds of my Volvo coming up to the drive way. They got here sooner than I expected.

Jake runs through the door and wraps his arms around me, "Are you okay? You looked horrible. You were so………so-" he shudders, "Are you okay now?"

I tuck my head under his chin and nod, "Yeah, I'm better now, but I don't know what to do. I-I can't stay here if Bella keeps showing up. I'll have to go away."

"No," Jake says, tightening his grip on me, "You can't leave."

"If I don't, I'll kill her. If I'm near her, and you aren't there………if you weren't there today, I would've killed her."

"We need to talk to Sam about this," Embry says, "He needs to know what's going on."

Jake sighs and pulls away from me, "Will you find him for me?" He asks Embry, "I want to stay here with Edward."

Embry frowns but nods, "Yeah. Sure."

Jake sits down on the couch and pulls me down with him. He tucks me under his arm and holds me tight, "You can't leave me."

"It's not like I want to, Jake," I say, "I don't really have a choice in the matter. I won't go far. I promise. But I can't stay here. I thought it would be safe for her, but......obviously not."

"You just need to stay until the we destroy the vampires then we can _both_ go away. Together."

"Jake," I breathe, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, "I just don't think me staying here will work."

Jake huffs in disagreement, "We'll figure something out when Jake gets here."

They lay there on the couch together as they wait for Sam, both praying for an idea to keep themselves from being separated.

* * *

***sighs* I was going to write more, but I haven't updated in such a long time, I figured I just post what I had.**


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